Alter Ego
by Heachan
Summary: Someone is impersonating the Fullmetal Alchemist in Central, causing Edward all kinds of problems. After being injured and thrown in jail will he and Alphonse be able to find out who's behind it? This is my longest story but worth the read.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes-So after realizing that I can write decent fanfics if I give myself enough time, I am writing this one. I have also decided to make it one of the longest ones I've written. I definately want it however to be epic and always like feedback from readers. Although it is a sequel to my Welcome Home story I want it to be much better. So by all means if you want to go read that one, you can, I am going to give some explaination in this story about that one but not much.

Disclaimer- not my characters.  
~Prologue~ The night was quiet, as most nights were in Resembol. A light snow made it's way silently down, covering everything with white. A soft wind picked up, sending the small white specks up against the yellow house that stood solitaire on the hill. Although it was past midnight, the phone was practically ringing off the hook. Finally, the young blond girl who almost twisted her ankle tripping down the stairs answered it with a yawn. She recognized the voice on the other end of the line and immediately snappd wide awake. Not so much from familiarity but because of the concerned tone he used.

Her heart was in her throat, she always worried about getting a phone call like this at an hour this late from them. But whatever she had expected it wasn't this.  
"Winry, it's Al." That part she pretty much expected, but Alphonse usually wasn't the one calling her.  
"Hey, what's going on?" Even though her mind was still tired she was already imagining what he could be calling about. Al and Ed had left her house less then a week ago. As usual she had been promised they would write her but she was dubious. She wouldn't complain though, since they did have a lot of work to get done in Central and she figured that the sooner they finished, the sooner they could come home.

"Well we ran into some trouble here and don't know if we're coming back." That was not what she was expecting to hear him say.  
"What kind of trouble?" She wasn't sure how she could help. The problem wasn't auto-mail related since Ed got his real limbs back. Of course that also meant he could get hurt easier, even if he wouldn't admit it. There was another voice on the line, in the background that she didn't recognize. The deep male voice spoke with authority and seemed to make Al nervous.  
"Ed's been arrested. Well we both have kind of, but him mainly because of his time in the military. It's pretty serious. He didn't want you to worry so he had me call." Winry felt angry tears sting her eyes as she gripped the phone tighter.

"What about the people who know you guys there? Can't they help? And what are the charges?" Alphonse was speaking with someone else now and she wasn't sure if he had even heard her question.  
"Sorry, I have to go now. Bye." The line went dead so abruptly that she found herself standing there, speechless for several minutes before placing the receiver down. Utter shock took over as she managed to head back upstairs to her room. Her mind went back to over three years ago when they were running from the military and came to Resembol. They had been called traitors then for what they knew, so was this the same thing. The military had changed so much in the past couple of months, wouldn't the past situation have been forgotten by now?

All these unanswered questions were going to make it hard to get back to sleep as she looked out the window at the snow cascading down. It was the only movement out there this late. So many times she had looked out this window, waiting for them to come home. Just waiting to see them off in the distance but as so many times, there was nothing to see. The same anger from before was still very much alive as she pressed her hand against the window, the glass cold to her palm. She wanted answers and wasn't going to sit there to wait for them. Her heart couldn't take it again. There wasn't much she could do to help but wanted to be there anyway. Tomorrow, she would take the first train available to Central.

This time would be different. 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes-I gave you the option to read the first story. So here is a quick explaination. The last story took place after the series, when I wrote it the movie hadn't come out yet and we were all in the dark of there even being a movie. So I came up with my own idea of how it should end. Also as Ed was on the other side of the gate at the end of the series, he manages to figure out a way to get back into the gate with Envy. Eventually he gets out with his limbs. He and Al leave Resembol, heading to Central to make sure nothing else can get out of the gate, mainly Dante (who he put there) and Envy. Now that is a lot explaination, onto the story.

-Earlier that week-

The whistle blew as the train moved away from the platform. The back compartment was almost empty except for two teenage boys. The one with lighter hair stared out the window in such a way that one would think he had nothing on his mind at all. If only that were so as his bright amber eyes watched the scenery start to pick up the pace. His companion was obviously much younger then him and had slightly darker features. He pulled out a book from his bag and opened it to a page he had marked.

Letting out a sigh he stated, "She really didn't want us to leave, did she, Ed?" The blond across the way let out a groan as he placed his hands back to support his head. Closing his eyes, he was still thinking about their predicament.  
"Let's make this a short trip, okay Al? I really don't want to be gone too long," he answered which was better then what his younger brother thought he was going to say. Usually he would say something like 'I wish she wouldn't carry on so much', but this time seemed different.  
"Yeah, I want to get back too. After all that traveling we use to do, it's nice to just stay in one place."  
"Sounds like you're remembering more now," Ed mentioned, opening one eye.  
"It's starting to come back, slowly." Edward settled against the window, making an effort to get comfortable. He wasn't having much luck though as he moved around more and more. Finally ending up in what seemed to be the most uncomfortable position to Al, his older brother closed his eyes and fell asleep. He recalled that he never did have problems sleeping just anywhere. Quietly he went back to his alchemy book.

~~~~ By the time they made it to Central, it was late afternoon. No one was there to meet them as no one was expecting them. Alphonse grabbed their suitcase and for some reason remembered it not being so heavy before. As he struggled to carry it behind him, Ed was looking at a map of the city.  
"What are you looking for, Brother?" "First things first," he stated with a determined tone of voice, "we find somewhere to eat. Last time we were here, I tried this one place and they had the best homemade bread, I swear they just took it out of the oven."

"Brother, how can you think about food? We came here for a reason, you were all concerned, remember, and..." There was a low growl that didn't come from Al's mouth but from his stomach. It brought a slight embarrassed look to his face and a smirk to Ed's.  
"See you're hungry too. Now come on. Last time we were here, you didn't get to eat at this place. It's the best, promise." He grabbed the suitcase from Al and led the way to the restaurant. Alphonse was somewhat relieved that he didn't have to carry the bag for once.

As they exited the station, Edwards jaw dropped as he took in all the changes of Central. Although for the most part it was the same city but had gotten bigger. Whole sections of buildings looked new. The government seemed to have expanded the military as there were more soldiers on the streets then he ever remembered. One thing he noticed that he didn't like was that they were all carrying weapons, ready for anything. At least before, they kept their guns hidden and not so out in the open. Maybe there had been a rise in crime but still it seemed to be an extreme measure. If he managed to run into Mustang he would have to ask him about it.

Now that he thought about it, he better make sure that everything happened the way it was suppose to and the Fuher was no longer in control. He could always look it up in the records if necessary when they went to the library. Carefully they crossed the street, making their way through the crowd. Another thing he had to say for the city was there seemed to be more people. A cold wind kicked up and the Elric brothers both found themselves wanting to reach their destination. While they both had long warm jackets on, the sudden gust still stung their hands and faces. Ed wished he still had his gloves but for the life of him he didn't know where he had them last.

Finally they turned a corner to find the restaurant and hurried to get inside. Before they really didn't have to deal with the elements so much, especially Al. He breathed in a sigh of relief as the heat hit his face. It felt nice as they rubbed their arms, trying to warm up.  
"Kinda cold out there, huh boys?" An older lady who looked to be the owner said as she greeted them. "Sit where ever you want." They found a booth farther in, away from the door. The menus were already on the table for them as they slid in on either side of the table. The lady returned holding two mugs and a pot. "Coffee?" Ed nodded insistantly as it had become something he'd grown to like but more importantly right now, it was hot.

She took their orders and headed back to the kitchen. Edward placed his hands around his mug and smiled in contentment. "Don't burn yourself." Al warned him.  
"I don't know if it's possible right now. My fingers feel like they could fall off." Al glanced over at another table and noticed a newspaper laying on it. He grabbed it and handed part to Ed.  
"I wonder if the Colonel is still here and anyone else. It would be nice to see how they're doing." It seemed that coming here was helping Al remember a lot more but Ed still made a face.  
"He'd probably give me some kind of lecture or try to put me to work. I hate to say it but since we don't know what kind of condition the military is in, we should lay low for awhile." Al nodded quietly since he knew they were just here for research anyway.

"I know, it would just be nice to get to see them, especially since we got our bodies back too." Ed shook his head back, knowing full well where Al was going with this.  
"I told you, this is not a social call. Maybe some other time." Al would not go against his older brother's wishes even though seeing the people they met on their journey would really help him out. Ed was hoping the paper would shed some light on what had transpired in his absence but most of the news was recent and didn't mention the military. The food came out and they both scarfed it down like they had never eaten a meal before in their life.

"You were right, brother. That was amazing." Al sat back contently with a smile on his face. Ed picked up the bill and grabbed his wallet. Looking inside, a small gasp escaped his mouth as he didn't have enough money. "Oh crap." He glanced up at Al nervously. This was something they never did before. "Don't you have money?"  
"Not enough, guess mine was more then I thought." Alphonse rolled his eyes and grabbed his wallet.  
"It's a good thing Granny Pinako gave me some money before we left." Ed let out the breath he was holding.  
"Thanks, I can get more from the bank here. I should still have an account."  
"That doesn't sound very convincing."  
"I have my reasons. Cut me a break here." "Fine."

They grabbed their jackets and bundled up as best they could before heading out again. The cold air hit them as they forced the door open. The federal bank was only a couple of blocks away but since they had spent two hours eating, the sun was beginning to set, which made it even colder. There weren't as many people on the streets now as they pushed on. Finally the bank building came into view and they ran the last couple of yards to the door. "There has to be a better way to go from place to place, at this rate," Ed complained as he managed to catch his breath. He regained his composure before going up to the counter. The short red head on the other side greeted him with a smile.  
"I'd like to withdraw some money from my account."  
"Alright, and do you have your military ID with you, sir?" Ed froze at the question. He no longer had his pocket watch if that was even what she needed from him.  
"Actually I've been out of the country for awhile and don't have it with me. How would that work?" He felt so embarrassed that he wasn't prepared for this.  
"Well what's your name, I can ask my supevisor and she can help me with the problem." Ed quickly gave her his name and along with his state alchemist title without question. She disappeared into the back. Al came up next to him to see what was going on.

"No problem, I've got this covered." The women returned along with her supervisor to the counter. "I'm sorry Mr. Elric but we called the main office and they said they can't verify anything today. You can either try back here tomorrow or go to the main office and see if they would issue you a new ID."  
"What, seriously, but we're only in town for so long and I needed the money today."  
"I wish we could be more help but that's all we're able to do right now," the manager explained to him. There was a sudden ruckus outside the front door that caught his attention. Several cars pulled up to the sidewalk. Ed quickly noticed a back exit and nodded to the manager.  
"Okay, we'll be back tomorrow to get this straightened out. Come on Al." He pulled Alphonse to the back.

Before he had a chance to ask why they were going that way, the front door opened and several military police came in, weapons drawn. They slipped out the back door and into the alley. Ed clapped his hands together, making sure the door was sealed so that they couldn't be followed. "Hurry, we've gotta move." They headed behind the buildings. Several blocks down and behind a dumpster, they had to stop to catch their breath.  
"What was that about?" Al sounded demanding as his breath came out in small white puffs that quickly vanished.  
"How should I know? They certainly are organized, aren't they?"  
"Yeah and mad at you. So what are we going to do about a hotel tonight?" Ed shrugged his response.  
"You mean you don't have a plan? Brother, we can't sleep out here on the street. Why can't you ever think things through?"  
"And when was I suppose to get us money for this trip anyway?" His tone was flat and annoyed. Al took in a deep breath and decided he wasn't going to keep this fight going.  
"Then can we just go with what I wanted to do in the first place?"  
"What was that?" 


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey guys, how are you doing?" Sciezka said from behind the door. She had managed to make it to the door pretty fast even with all her books in the way. From the looks on their faces they were just happy to be inside again and away from the military police looking for them.  
"Thanks for taking us in. We don't have anywhere else to go." They entered the cramped apartment and she closed the door.  
"No problem, I just hope you like cozy." She laughed at her own statement but at the same time found it to be kind of sad. They moved carefully around the tall piles of books towards the back of the apartment where there was more room.

"You never change, do you?" Ed couldn't help but laugh.  
"Sorry bout this, I did clear some of them away for you though. I wish I had a guest room but this will have to do for now." She showed them two sleeping bags she had placed on the floor off to the side of the living room behind the couch so they would have some privacy. "That's fine with us, thanks." Ed placed their suitcase down and stretched his arms over his head.  
"Let me get some tea going for us, okay." The brunette headed for the kitchen to put the kettle on. Al walked around the couch, placing his bag down and taking his coat off.

"Alright, I have to admit this was a good idea." Ed sat down on the couch, rubbing his hands together. Al wasn't about to make him feel bad about it.  
"So how's Winry doing," Sciezka called over to them.  
"She's okay, I guess." Ed wasn't sure how much she wanted to know.  
"Yeah, she and I have been writing each other for awhile but lately I've just been so busy. Plus whenever it gets colder the mail tends to slow down. It's suppose to snow tonight, I think."

"I knew it felt that cold," Al came around the couch and joined his brother. She brought in a tray with three mugs on it and had a seat in the chair next to them.  
"So what's happening with the military?" Ed cut right to the chase as always, taking his cup.  
"Well they've changed a lot but since the Furer disappeared, things have been pretty chaotic. General Hakuro has pretty much taken over and they've moved everyone around so that there wasn't a power struggle. I actually took a leave of absence a couple months ago."

"What about the Colonel? Is he still here?" Al grabbed his tea as well, joining the conversation. The one thing he must not have remembered was that the Colonel drove his older brother crazy half the time.  
"He comes through ever so often. I'm not sure where they stationed him though and I don't know if they let him take his 'staff' with him either."  
"So what's with all the police in town?"  
"I should warn you about using your alchemy. Since there was soo much damage done recently because of alchemy, they are discouraging it's use."  
"But what about State Alchemists?"  
"They've been told that they can either become regular soldiers or they are arrested."

Sciezka placed her cup down on the coffee table as Ed stared in shock.  
"Maybe that's what happened at the bank today. But I haven't even been given any options, that's not fair."  
"To be honest I did read up on some of the new regulations General Hakuro has passed and unfortunately I think you're still considered a traitor to the state." Edward's anger flared up some when he heard that.  
"That's not right, what's a guy gotta do to prove he's innocent?"  
"They probably have courts for that, Brother." Ed let out a quiet sigh realizing his options were limited.  
"So what do you recommend?"  
"You can stay here, but like I said I would keep out of sight as much as possible. I doubt they have wanted posters of you or anything. And there aren't a lot of soldiers still here that recognize you anyway."

"I guess that's the best we can do then. If I give you a list of books from the library do you think you could get them for us?"  
"Yeah, they know me at the library." She let out a laugh. "I'm gonna head off to bed, so whenever you're done with the tea, just put your cups in the kitchen." Once Sciezka went to her room, the apartment was as quiet as it could be in a busy city at night.

Al had already made himself comfortable for the night while Ed looked through one of the many pile of books.  
"I wonder if she realizes she has two copies of some of these," he called over to his younger brother.  
"Maybe but I'm sure she has her reasons." Al sat up, barely seeing over the couch. He wanted to turn the light out and go to sleep but Ed seemed to be completely lost in the vast world of books that also occupied the room. "Can we turn out the light and go to bed?"  
"Yeah, some of these have the weirdest titles."  
"Ed.."  
"Alright, I'm coming." Trudging over, he pulled his shoes off and was grumbling something under his breath. "This was your idea, yah know," was one part Al understood which caused him to sit up again.  
"Hey, you're the fugitive who couldn't get money for a hotel. We're not arguing about this."  
"Like hell we aren't Al, you called me a fugitive." Ed unbuttoned his shirt and turned off the light before getting into his sleeping bag.  
"Well you're running from the police, aren't you? That makes you a fugitive."  
"Yeah, well you're an accomplice which makes you one too." There was a pause in their conversation as Al took the accusation in for a second.  
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." He tried to turn over and go to sleep.

"That's just what most accomplices say." Al reminded himself not to argue back and that it wasn't worth it.  
"I'm too tired for this." Finally it was quiet between them as Al quickly dosed off and Ed stared at the ceiling thinking more and more about their situation. He thought about going and speaking to General Hakuro but then he wasn't sure what the guy thought about him anyway. He liked him once, but that was a long time ago. They could always go check out the city underneath Central, no one would bother them there. Literally no one. The idea made him shiver and he brushed it aside.

As much as he hated the idea, getting in contact with Mustang might be his best bet. He cringed at the thought but he didn't like being looked at as a traitor still for something that had happened so long ago. And what was worse, it was for betraying someone who wasn't even human. The Furer had been betraying everyone all along but he had no proof except for Mustang's side of the story as well. There really was no way around it, either go through life with a black mark on your record with the military or find Mustang.

The thought made his stomach turn and then he remembered they hadn't really eaten dinner. Shifting to his side, he tried to find a comfortable position. This was the most frustrating thing he had noticed lately about himself. Maybe it was knowing too much in general or just being in the gate as long as he was, but for some reason whenever he tried to get to sleep or was sleeping he could never seem to shut his brain off. His mind would go from one thing to the next to the next. And some times it wasn't even stuff he thought he knew about. It made his head hurt but not enough to want automail back.

He brought his hand up to rub his tired eyes when his mind switched over to Winry. Maybe he should just forget about this whole problem with the military and go home. That actually sounded nice right about now. Instead of sleeping on a floor he could be sleeping in a bed that had been set aside for him for so many years. Even if Dante or Envy managed to get out of the gate, what could they do over here anyway? Dante had lost her stone and the time and effort to make a new one would take too long. She would never be able to hold on. And Envy really couldn't do that much damage by himself could he? That's when he knew he had to stay.

Envy alone could cause alot of trouble just because he could look like whoever he wanted to. That was something that shouldn't be underestimated. Edward let out a tired sigh. He was ready for an easier life by now. He just didn't really know how to get to that point. Gradually as his thoughts became more and more unclear, he drifted off to sleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

By nine the next morning the city was back to it's busy self again, even with the light snow fall the night before. White powder covered the streets but it wasn't enough to keep people home. The noise had already woken Al up and he stood by the window, watching people go by. Just looking at the white scenery sent a chill up his back even though it was nice and warm in the apartment. Al was normally more put together but decided not to be too concerned with it this morning. His dark brown pants were wrinkled and his white collared shirt was untucked and messy. A low groan from behind the couch caught his attention. Ed rolled over in his sleeping back, yawning loudly and stretching his arms over his head. Needless to say it always took him longer to get up in the morning then it did Alphonse. He glanced over at Al's spot only to see it empty. In a sudden panic he jolted up, almost as though he forgot where he was as well.

"Al?" If he had sat up sooner he would have caught sight of his younger brother on the other side of the couch, holding a mug of steaming liquid by the window.  
"Calm down, I'm right here. What are you so worried about?" Al came over and leaned on the back of the couch. Ed let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know what had come over him.  
"Guess I just expected you to still be sleeping, that's all. Sorry."  
"Sciezka already left for the library for us and made some coffee. She also said we could help ourselves to anything in the kitchen."  
"I wonder if there is anything in the kitchen." Ed stood up, feeling stiff from the floor they had called a bed.

Scratching his head, he wondered into the kitchen to search for food. He opened the fridge and made a face.  
"Well there's the option of milk or ketchup. Great." He grabbed his cup from the sink and went for the fresh coffee. He took a sip and grinned contently.  
"It snowed last night," Al mentioned still looking out the window.  
"If that's the case I wish we could just stay inside today." "We could just read over the books Sciezka brings back."  
"Yeah but we have to eat too." Ed leaned back on the counter, thinking.

Several hours went by and boredom set in. Alphonse spent that time putting the piles of books into categories and then alphabetized them as well.  
"Hey, do you think we could find material to make shelves for these?"  
"We're not suppose to use alchemy though." Ed was laying on his back staring out the window at the cloudy sky. It looked like it was either going to rain or snow, it was hard to tell. Finally they heard Sciezka at the door.

"Hey, sorry it took me soo long, but I figured I'd get some groceries." She pushed the door open, walking in and closing the door with her foot. Al moved quickly to help her with the bags she was carrying. Ed leaned up from his place on the floor to see if they needed him as well. "I'll get some lunch started. Oh and here's your books. I got the weirdest looks when I checked these out." She brought over a couple of them and placed them on Ed's chest.  
"Yeah, I guess you don't really look like someone who's really into alchemy." He sat up finally, looking over the books on him.  
"I could be, you never know." She headed back to the kitchen and started making sandwiches.

Edward moved up to the couch, flipping through one of the books. Alphonse grabbed their lunches and handed one plate to his brother, taking a seat next to him on the couch. Sciezka noticed her books had been shifted around as she walked around the piles.  
"Hey you organized things, I've been trying to get that done for months now." She took a bite of sandwich. There was a loud knock at the door and someone called out for Sciezka from outside. She immediately panicked running around, almost knocking several piles over. "I knew they'd come for me one day, I know too much!" Ed and Al tried not to laugh at her.

"Why don't you see who it is first. Are you expecting anyone?" Ed asked in a low voice.  
"No, and I don't think anyone followed me." She gulped loudly and headed to the front door, looking through the peep hole. Several soldiers stood outside her door. "It's the military." Ed and Al hid behind the couch. "Hello, can I help you," they heard her ask them in a somewhat calm tone.  
"Yes, we're here about the books you got from the library. We need to know for what purpose you needed them?" "Um,...is there a problem? I just wanted to read them."  
"Are you going to use them for alchemy."

The man on the other side of her doorway was becoming more and more intimidating which wasn't hard when it came to Sciezka. She brought the door more between herself and him.  
"No, I just like to read."  
"The reading material you took is highly suspicious especially when it comes to your background of helping state alchemists. Have you had recent contact with any former state alchemists?" She froze in the doorway, afraid to say anything that would get her in trouble. "If need be we can search the premises." His warning didn't get any response out of her either as she couldn't find her words.

"Is there something wrong with the books I asked you to get me, Aunt Sciezka?" She turned in shock to where the question had come from. Alphonse stood behind her in the hallway, holding the stack she had just brought him and his brother. He calmly walked up to the soldier and extended the pile of books and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, I am visiting my aunt and never get the chance to read up on alchemy where I live. I asked for the books but if it is a problem, you can have them back." He turned to Sciezka with a half smile and scratched the back of his head, innocently. "It's okay Auntie, I can just read your books here."

It was a good thing he looked the way he did, the soldier had no idea who he was or who he was related to. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the soldier decided there had been no harm done. "It's alright, I'll just take these and we'll call it even. Son, you better not be thinking of performing any alchemy while your here, understand?"  
"Yes, sir." "You have a good day."

With that, they left the apartment, Sciezka still in shock at the situation and how Al had handled it. He quietly closed the door and brought her back into the living room.  
"Good save there, Al." Ed came out from behind the couch.  
"I thought I was toast till you did that," Sciezka collapsed in her chair.  
"They're really against alchemy now aren't they?"  
"Guess so and we still didn't get to read those books," Ed grumbled as he went to finish his lunch.  
Alphonse leaned against the wall, feeling worn out by the situation. They came all the way here and just kept running into problems.  
"Brother, what do you want to do?" Ed's mouth was full and he had to take a minute to swallow, before answering. He wished he didn't feel so much responsibility but he did.  
"Maybe we should go to that place." His suggestion had been a last resort but they were out of ideas. They would have to go to the underground city. "At least no one would bother us if we went there."

"But in the mean time, I did read some of what was in your books and could write it out for you. Just give me a couple of days," Sciezka told them.  
"Alright, we can wait around for a couple of days," Ed agreed. He was really trying to avoid his last option as much as possible.

Author's note-I know right now it doesn't seem to be going anywhere, but the next chapter gets interesting, promise, so please someone review, please. 


	5. Chapter 5

After taking a day and a half, Sciezka finished rewriting at least two of the books she read. Edward and Alphonse looked over the pages but still seemed disappointed. It still wasn't enough information for what they needed. Placing his pages down, Ed stood up and stretched. "This isn't getting us anywhere. I wish we could get our hands on those other books." Al kept looking over the hand written pages in front of him but knew his brother was right.  
"Is there anyway we can get into the library and read the books there without getting caught?" Ed looked down at Al, thinking about the suggestion. It might actually work.

Sciezka walked in from the back room, trying not to interrupt them. As she went into the kitchen she noticed they were both watching her, both of them with suspicious looks on their faces.  
"Uh, so what's going on?" "Not much,...so got any plans this afternoon?" Ed walked over to her, still acting odd. "No, why?"  
"Wanna sneak us into the federal library?"  
"What? Are you crazy, you could get into serious trouble."  
"Aw, come on. I know exactly how we could do it cause I use to go there all the time before."  
"Then you can go without me, there's no way I'm helping this time, no way."

~~~~ At least it wasn't snowing on this particular afternoon as they headed to the center of the city. Although the weather had warmed up some, all it had managed to do was turn the snow on the streets into a dirty sludge. The receptionist smiled warmly as two individuals came up to the front of the library.  
"Hey Sciezka, how are you doing today?"  
"Oh I'm fine, I haven't been here lately since my nephew's been visiting me. See this is my nephew, Al."  
"That's nice, he can go in with you." Sciezka smiled nervously as she headed in with Alphonse behind her. He felt bad that they kept bringing her into these things considering how much of a mess it made her. Once they got inside, Al went to the back door, where no one was around. Ed was waiting outside the door with his face mostly hidden behind the collar of his jacket.  
The door creaked open and he slid in quickly. Sciezka met them in the back with some of the books they hadn't gotten to read yet.  
"They actually have a guard over in the alchemy section. You might not want to just walk over there, Edward." The Elrics sat down and started reading immediately now knowing that they could get caught at any moment. Sciezka found a book for herself and kept an eye out for them around the corner. Once they read through the books she brought them, Ed sent her to get them two more books. As she came back to where they were, the soldier followed her. Ed noticed him first and moved to another aisle where he couldn't be seen.

Al grabbed another random book off of a nearby shelf as she walked up.  
"So why do you read about alchemy Aunt Sciezka if you don't know how to do it?" She gave him an odd look still not knowing the soldier was behind her. "It's kinda interesting," she admitted, flipping through one of the books in her hands.  
"If you say so." The guard backed away. Edward waited until he thought the coast was clear. "This is getting obnoxious."  
"I'll say, I'm starting to feel like a criminal," Sciezka admitted. "Now you know how I feel and I didn't even do anything, I just want to read a couple of books and get to my money."

"Well it's not really your money, Brother. It's a research account which belongs to the state." The guard overheard their conversation and headed to the front desk to use the phone. Ed looked through one of the books and handed it back to Sciezka.  
"I don't need this one, I've read it before." She went to bring it back and noticed the soldier was missing. After glancing around the main floor, she noticed him getting off the phone. Hurrying back to Ed and Al she told them that they needed to leave.  
"What for?" Ed didn't seem so convinced there was anything to worry about.  
"He might have called for back up, you have to trust me on this." Ed was starting to get tired of her theatrics and let out a tired sigh.  
"Sciezka, it's probably nothing to worry about. We'll just finish up here and then be on our way."

Before she could say anything else there was the click of a hammer being pulled back on a gun. Ed didn't have to turn to see the soldier standing there, he could tell just by the shock written on Al's face.  
"Hands in the air, Fullmetal." The order was firm and caught Ed off guard. He wasn't sure how they had known it was him. Cautiously he lifted his arms above his head. "How'd you know I was here?" The guard smirked at the question, feeling he had made quite an accomplishment.  
"Because you were one of the only state alchemists we couldn't locate, it was only a matter of time before you showed up. No one has been remotely interested in the alchemy section of the library for a while. And then you showed up in Central."

"Well, thanks for the information." Ed still didn't look at the guy as he kicked backwards, nailing the soldier in the hand. The gun went flying overhead and he turned to punch the guard in the face, causing him to fall backwards. He shook his hand as his knuckles throbbed from the impact. Sciezka and Alphonse went for the front of the library as Ed ran out the back. He glanced around to the front of the building to see if the coast was clear. Several police cars were now at the entrance. Sciezka and Al made it outside and were stopped.

"There was some guy in there, he went out the side exit. I think he hit one of the guards in there," Al told them in the most innocent tone he could come up with. The soldiers ran in the opposite direction of where Ed was headed. "Okay Sciezka, you need to get back to your apartment. I'm going to go help Brother." With that, Alphonse went around the building and down the back alley to find Edward.  
"Sheesh, they sure don't waste any time do they."  
"So where to now?" "If we can make it to the church on the south side. That's where the entrance to the underground city is. I hate to say it but it seems that's the only place we're going to find any answers to this wild goose chase." 


	6. Chapter 6

By this point it was getting darker as the sun was past the horizon. The lights turned on throughout the city. The military police all over the city were on alert, searching by car and by foot. Despite the cold miserable weather, they were to determine to stop their search.

One of the commanding officers yelled for the fugitives to stop from behind causing them to duck around a sharp corner onto another street.  
"If you don't stop, we'll have no other option but to shoot!" The Elric brothers slid between two buildings,  
waiting to be passed.  
"Al, you aren't connected to this, you should head back to the apartment."  
"But what about you, I'm not just gonna leave you to deal with all this alone." His older brother shook his head, his blond braid practically hitting him in the face.

"I'll be all right, but you're not bullet proof anymore. Besides one targets harder to hit then two." Al grit his teeth, standing firm. He wasn't going anywhere and Edward knew it. "Just be careful." They stayed where they were another second, waiting for the street to be clear then headed out. They made it several yards before they could hear more soldiers behind them. As they ran off faster, several shots were fired. Ed clapped his hands together and placed his palm on a nearby building. Even though he didn't want to use alchemy, he wasn't about to let them shoot at him and his brother. The wall flew out along with blue sparks of electricity, as bricks jarred forward blocking the Elrics from the shots.

The church was only a couple blocks away, they could make it at this rate. They kept to a side street and didn't see any one up ahead. Just as they thought they were about to get away, one of the commanding officers came into sight from an alleyway, aiming a gun in their direction. Al was ahead of Ed and quickly grabbed him by his collar, pushing them into another side street. All Ed had heard was the sound of the gun going off. Other then that he hadn't even seen the guy before them. Al slumped down against the wall, letting out a huff. Ed noticed his shoulder was bleeding. "Alphonse, you're..."  
"We...have to keep moving, come on." He pushed himself back up.

The commanding officer came around the corner and Ed punched him squarely in the face. His knuckles stung even more and he pressed his hand down in the snow. Al pushed off the wall and favored his one side.  
"It's not too bad. We should separate. They aren't really looking for me and I'll slow you down."  
"Are you sure, I don't know if that's a good idea." Ed couldn't see much of the main road from where they were.  
"Don't worry about me, I'll meet you at the church." Al moved back towards the side street.  
"Alright, I'll take the main street. Just be careful." Ed seemed very hesitant about the idea, especially with Al already injured. Watching his older brother heading to the main street, Al stayed where he was for a minute, making sure he got out safely. Just as Edward made it out to the road, more soldier's made their way down the side street to Alphonse. Unfortunately, he figured he was going to get caught but they had nothing on him. He had never been a state alchemist and their soldier had shot him which made them look bad.

Ed turned to see Al surrounded and more soldiers were headed for him. He had to think fast but was running out of options. Just as he was about to move, something solid slammed into him. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The military police stopped where they were. Alphonse watched in utter shock as his brother was rammed hard by the metal grill of the vehicle that came in contact with him. Ed hit another parked car before hitting the ground hard, rolling in the cold sludge and gravel. His head and back made contact first and he could feel a surge of pain wretched through his body.

He laid on his side, staring at the road as more and more soldiers showed up. His mind went blank for awhile then drifted to Al. Had he gotten away? From what he could tell, there were about four officers around him, none of which checked to see if he was okay. Somewhere in the distance he could hear Al yelling at them to let him near. He must have gotten caught afterall. Ed finally saw him and tried to make eye contact with him. He went to move his hand to let him know he was okay, but it hurt too much. He felt the ground rumbling under him for a second as another vehicle pulled up. Thankfully it was an ambulance. An EMT got out and immediately hurried over to Edward.

She started asking him questions that he had no idea what to say. They grabbed a stretcher and before he knew it he was in the ambulance. Didn't they know Al needed help too. Before he could say anything they were already moving and he had a light shining in his eyes. She kept asking him questions that just reminded him that his head was throbbing. The ambulance had two military cars following it, Al was in one of them. As much as the soldiers wanted more answers from him, all they got from him was that the Fullmetal Alchemist was his brother and where ever they took him, he was going too.

~~~~

They made it to the hospital and Ed was rushed off to the emergency room while Al was patched up in a nearby room as well. Now he was handcuffed to one of the military police out in the waiting room. Hours past and Alphonse was starting to become more concerned. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying not to lean back on his injured shoulder. His arm rested in a sling as well to keep the weight off.  
"Why are we being arrested?" He had to get his mind on something else. "All state alchemists were suppose to resign or get taken into custody. Anyone who refused after a certain date forfeited the option. Fullmetal was one of the only ones not accounted for and you're an accomplice."  
"But that was because he was out of the country. You'd think you could cut him some slack."  
"I'm not at liberty to discuss this any further with you." Al sat up more as best he could. A shadow came over him and he felt someone staring at him. Glancing up he recognized General Hakuro. He didn't seem to acknowledge him as Ed's brother from before. He turned his gaze to the officer.  
"As soon as the doctors allow, take Fullmetal in to be interrogated." "For what? What do you think he knows," Al interrupted but it didn't seem to get him anywhere.

The officer nodded his understanding and the General walked away. None of this made sense to Al. There was no reason for them to be treated this way. At this point, he just really wanted to talk to his brother and figure out what they were going to do. Right now things were really looking bleak. 


	7. Chapter 7

After what felt like forever, a short older doctor walked out to see Alphonse. He gave him a nod and smiled warmly at him, easing his nerves some.  
"Officer, please let him come back with me for now. I'll bring him back to you." The guard seemed hesitant but went ahead and undid Alphonse's handcuff from his wrist.  
"Don't be too long." He stood and followed the doctor back quickly before the guard changed his mind. They walked down the cold white hallway to one of the last rooms. On the way, the doctor looked over the file in his hands.  
"By the way, does your brother have a problem with needles?"  
"Oh that, I guess he still does." "Well, I swear he almost bit one of my nurses over it but anyway he fell asleep awhile ago and that's why I didn't come get you sooner. Figured that if they knew he was okay, they'd haul him off as soon as possible."  
"So he's going to be all right then?" The doctor seemed to pause before answering the question.  
"He got hit by a car. He's lucky it wasn't going faster or it could have been much worse. He's got some broken ribs and a head injury. Plus some really bad scrapes and bruises but no internal injuries and nothing serious. If they take him away right now, he'll be hurting soon, so it's best to let him get as much rest here as possible."

The older man open the door to Ed's room and let him in. Ed was awake but still seemed out of it. Al walked over, catching his brother's attention. He looked terrible, with a bandage around his forehead and the side of his face cut up, it made Al feel even worse for him.  
"So you're okay," Edward asked as he felt relieved to see Al there. He didn't move from his spot, and his younger brother could only imagine how worn out he must have been.  
"Yeah, I told them who I was and they let me ride behind the ambulance. I was really worried about you, Brother. The doctor said you were really lucky."  
"How's your shoulder?"  
"It's okay now, kinda sore but not bad." Although he was still in a lot of pain, Al didn't want to worry his brother.

They were both quiet for a minute as though they were both trying to figure out what they were going to do. There didn't seem to be a safe way out of this.  
"General Hakuro was here earlier, out in the hallway."  
"Yeah, I bet it was out of concern." Ed's tone dripped with sarcasm. After all he's been through he wanted nothing more then to punch the General in the face. That was when he realized something odd.

"Hey Al, you said Hakuro was here but he supposedly covering for the Furer so why would he take the time to come here over us? Mustang wouldn't even come to check up on us and he has the same amount of power since he was promoted to a General." "Mustangs' a General too?" "Yeah," Ed was trying to think of how they could still get out of this. "Are you being arrested?" Al nodded in shame and let out a sigh. "As soon as you get a chance, call Winry and let her know what happen. Tell her we need her help." "But are you sure you want to get her involved?"  
"I don't know what other option we have."

"Okay I'll ask the doctor if I can use a phone." Al stood up and headed for the door, knowing that if he didn't get to a phone soon, he might not get the chance again. "Oh and Brother, be nice to the nurses here. They're just doing their jobs."  
"Yeah, well their bedside manner needs work." Ed was not in the mood for a lecture. Alphonse shook his head in disbelief and went to find the doctor. In the meantime, Edward tried to readjust himself on the bed which was agony. He grit his teeth as his back and side ached from the movement. "Okay I'm just going to stay right where I am."

After waiting for over an hour he wondered if Al had found a phone or if he was even coming back. He heard the door open and glanced up, seeing the doctor enter the room.  
"How are you doing?" He walked over to get a better look at him.  
"About the same, did my brother ever find you? He needed a phone."  
"Yes, he called your friend already. You should get some sleep, Mr. Elric. The commanding officer told me that they want to move you tomorrow morning and they have already taken your brother."

"But he was still injured too. Shouldn't he stay as well."  
"Calm down, they aren't listening to me. I already tried to explain all that. I don't know what the hurry is. So I would advise you to get some sleep." As quickly as he came in, he exited the room, turning off the light on the way out leaving him little option to do anything else.

As much as he wished he could sleep, Edward wasn't going to. He had too much on his mind and although he was still hurting from the accident, he was actually looking somewhat forward to them finally telling him what this was all about tomorrow. But at the same time if it had anything to do with the secrets of the military in the past, he had no way to prove his side unless Mustang was there. No one would believe him otherwise. Moving carefully to his side, he closed his eyes trying to get some rest despite everything.

~~~~

The next morning came sooner then expected as Ed was awoken by one of the nurses. It hurt to move as he forced himself to get dressed. For some stupid reason they gave him a uniform, as though he had ever worn one before. But since his other options were still drenched from the night before he decided it was clean and dry. He probably could have used a wheelchair but it seemed any luxury was not to be wasted on him. Painfully he walked down the hallway, his hands secured behind his back. If they were trying to embarrass him, it wasn't going to work, he'd been through enough in his short life that almost nothing could.

The one thing that kept coming to the surface of his mind though was where his brother was and where he had spent the night. No one seemed to say much as they led him to the car. The odd thing was how much they seemed to underestimate him. They hadn't secured his hands separately enough, if he wanted to he could still transmute and get away, but that was probably why they didn't tell him where Al was. Once they got to their destination, they removed his handcuffs and placed him in a room with a long table by himself. It would seem as though they were taking their time on purpose. He laid his head down on the table, letting out a tired sigh. At least sitting still like this didn't hurt so much.

The doorknob turned, causing him to pull his head up. A stocky older gentleman with a mustache walked in with a taller thin MP who was carrying some files.  
"You don't stand when a higher ranking officer enters the room, Fullmetal?" The older one inquired.  
"Sorry sir, I've been injured and haven't been enlisted for awhile now," Ed shot back quickly. It was not found amusing though.  
"Dropping out is not an option unfortunately for you. I'm Commanding Officer Caraway and I am heading up your investigation for General Hakuro."

"What am I being charged for?"  
"Isn't it obvious?" The Commander glared down at the Fullmetal Alchemist only to have his look returned. He had never had anyone been so insubordinate before. "You're the reason alchemy has been banned from this city. After your little rebellion when you decided you'd had enough of the military." Edward sat back, now looking confused. This was not the same accusations as before.  
"Wait, when did this happen?"

"I'm suppose to be asking the questions here, not you." Caraway was becoming impatient. "Now, isn't it true that when you left the military you attacked the main building in Central with an Izumi Curtis?" As much as Ed wanted all these facts to be false, he knew that one actually happened. He brought his head down.  
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Archer attacked us when we were there." His voice came out quietly.  
"You mean defended our people against your attack." The blond across the table's head shot up, his eyes revealed how surprised he was by the statement. It proved how much the facts were able to be changed.

"No, we were looking for the Furer, and since he wasn't there we were trying to leave. He attacked us and his own people." He was leaning on the table, his gloved hands pressed against it's surface.  
"It's also been documented that you believed that the Furer was not human." His tone revealed that he found the idea humorous.  
"I was not the only one that felt that way. You can always ask General Mustang as well." The Commander leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together.

"But I'm not talking to him, I am talking to you. What evidence do you have now for your accusation?" The Fullmetal Alchemist had to take a deep breath, trying to calm down some before he lost his cool. "I guess I don't have any evidence right here with me." The Commander smiled at his response.  
"Interesting, so then can you explain you most recent attacks on Central in the past year?" There was a pause in the conversation as Ed wasn't sure what he was talking about.  
"What do you mean in the past year? I've been out of the country."  
"Where were you exactly?" Ed was having a hard time lying since he didn't want to get into all the specifics of where he really was.

"I went north. There was a lot going on in the country and I felt it was best to leave." Caraway raised a suspicious eyebrow.  
"So instead of clearing you and your brother's names, you just left. That seems unlikely."  
"It's like you said, I don't have any proof." The Commander wrote something down in one of his files.  
"I'll have to review this information with the General before we make a decision." With that he stood up and left the room before Edward had anything else to say. He clenched his fists, remaining where he sat. There was nothing he could do. 


	8. Chapter 8

After sitting there for a couple of minutes, the door opened again and Ed was forced up by two soldiers. They cuffed his hands again behind his back and led him out to the car. If they were giving him the benefit of the doubt before, this time they obviously thought he was guilty as they shoved him along roughly. If they hadn't taken Al, he could easily retaliate but tried not to let his anger boil over as he practically tripped over his own feet. Burning pain returned to his side, as one of the pushed him around the corner and caused him to smack into the wall. He cussed under his breath, moving away from the wall. A long staircase appeared before them and he hoped they weren't going to help him down.

Despite how tired his legs felt he forced himself to stay far enough ahead of them so that they wouldn't be able to reach him. Once he was close to the bottom of the stairs he felt a force yank his arms back as one of them yelled at him to slow down. Frustrated, he paused regaining his balance and allowing them to take the lead.

"Were all of them this cocky," The one soldier mentioned to the other, pointing back at Edward.  
"Not that I remember, but I also don't think we took many in either." They moved down another long corridor. Ed wondered if they were trying to save on lighting, it was so dim that he could hardly make out any characteristics about this place. Who knew the military had a dungeon? His sarcastic thoughts were interrupted when they stopped at a large glass door.  
"So you got it from here, Harrison?"  
"Thanks leave the rest up to me." The one guard gave the other a smirk as though they had some inside joke that Ed didn't know about. It made him feel uneasy since they already seemed to not like him and he probably couldn't get away with as much now that he was older. The other guard walked back the way they came while Ed was left with Harrison.

"What are you gonna stand there all day? Get moving." He forced the door open, impatiently. The room was no bigger then a closet let alone two people to even fit inside. Harrison pulled a key out and undid the cuffs around Ed's wrists. "Get undressed." His order was firm and unwavering as he placed the cuffs in his pocket. Edward stared at him in shock, subconsciously backing himself into one of the corners. Harrison didn't move from his place in front of the door, seeming impatient. He let out an angry huff and folded his arms over his chest, still waiting for Ed to follow his instruction. "Today kid, I haven't got all day, I need the uniform back."

Letting out the breath he was holding, Ed nodded although he was still some what hesitant to change in front of a stranger. He had almost everything off when he realized there was nothing else for him to wear. Was the other guard coming back? "This is taking forever, your not gonna do too well here, if you can't get undressed quickly." With that, Harrison got the last of the clothing from Ed and shut the door to the tiny room, leaving Ed inside, naked. Not knowing what to do next he moved over to the door and tried for the knob only to find that there wasn't one there. Before he could start to panic, a sudden stream of cold wet drops hit him, sending a shock through his body.

He yelped as the freezing water continued to hit his skin. The realization that he was in a shower finally entered his mind but not before he moved around, trying to get away from the water. If he didn't feel bad enough, this made him feel worse as he started shaking uncontrollably. Any bandages around his rib cage were now drenched as was the one around his head. His hair seemed to be plastered to his face, making his vision limited. The temperature never got warmer and he wasn't sure when they would come and get him. Wrapping his hands around his arms for the smallest amount of warmth, he had to remind himself that he wasn't suppose to use alchemy. Although one clap and he could make this place into a sauna.

Taking in a sharp breath he felt his ribs ache, reminding him of the night before. Actually everywhere the icy water hit seemed to ache. Just when he didn't think he could handle anymore, the pipes made a loud noise and the water stopped. He stood there, dripping wet and not wanting to make a move. Finally he raised his arms and pulled his hair away from his face and off his neck. Even though the water had stopped, he was still unable to stop shaking. Pushing against the cold stone of the walls, he wedged himself back in the corner and brought his knees up in an attempt to get warm.

He wasn't sitting there long before the door opened and Harrison was standing there with a clean set of clothes for him and a small towel. He didn't say anything to him, although his smirk said plenty as he offered to help the Fullmetal Alchemist up and handed him a pair of plain gray pants. Ed didn't seem to care what they looked like or even if they fit him, it brought some comfort. Even being fully dressed, his skin still felt cold. Toweling his hair, Harrison cleared his throat.

"Okay, that's enough of that. Move forward." This time Ed didn't question him and just started walking. As he walked, Ed noticed Harrison hadn't bothered bounding his wrist again but at the same time, he also had his hand right by his gun as they moved. They stopped infront of an empty cell and Harrison motioned for him to go in. As he entered, Edward's heart sunk as he was hoping they would put him in with his brother.  
"Lieutenant Elliot should be back with some food. And here's this..." He pulled out a different type of handcuffs that were made of wood that would prevent Edward from being able to clap his hands together.  
"I was wondering about that." Ed attempted to be nice to the soldier and held out his hands.

Harrison didn't seem to be affected by it though as he clamped the uncomfortable block around his hands. "Could you tell me where my brother is being held? I just want to make sure he's okay." Before he could finish his statement, Harrison was already shaking his head.  
"Nope, that's confidential." With that he closed the barred door and disappeared from sight. Now alone, Edward walked around the room trying to get a feel for it. He had been in some tight situations but this one was starting to seem the worst to date. The entire place was made of solid stone except for the door. The only light source was the dim fluorescent lights out in the hallway. In the one corner of the room was a toilet while the opposite side was a small cot with a thin blanket and pillow on it.

As much as his alchemist mind was working on how many ways there were to get out of this place, he silently went over to the shifty bed and laid down on it. Attempting to pull the blanket over him, he finally gave up and placed his head down on the pillow. Although it was warmer now then when he was in the shower, he still felt uncomfortable. He wondered if they were putting Alphonse through the same crap. He didn't know what he was going to do if Winry didn't get his message. His stomach reminded him he was hungry and in fact hadn't eaten yet that day. He hoped they wouldn't use hunger as a way to get him to admit he did anything he hadn't done. That was one thing that was bothering him. Who were they confusing him with? The incident the commander asked him about was when he was in either in the gate or on the other side of it. And this one he couldn't blame on Envy since he apparently has the sense of direction of a snail.

"Here's your lunch. Hope you're not hungry." Ed heard the one officer from before say down the hallway a couple of feet away from him He came into view at the door shortly after Ed heard him. He slid a plate of food on the floor and grinned maliciously. "Sorry we don't offer gourmet here." He must have thought he was a riot. Edward didn't move from the cot until Elliot was gone then he moved towards the door. The plate of food, although he was hungry looked unappealing to him as he walked past it.  
"Hello, is anyone out there?" He called out pushing his face between the bars.  
"Brother?" Alphonse voice echoed down the corridor to Ed's cell.  
"Al, where have you been? I've been going crazy wondering where you were."  
"They were asking me all these questions about stuff I had no idea about. It's certainly not helping my memory."  
"Yeah, their time line is all wacked up, I wasn't even here when all this stuff supposedly happened." There was a moment of silence followed by Al muttering quietly: "I liked Sciezka's lunches better."

Ed tried to see around the corner of his doorway, to see if he could see Al from where he was but to no avail.  
"Listen Al, we can't use any alchemy. If we do it'll just give them more reason to think we're guilty."  
"So what do they think you did, Brother. It didn't make much sense to me." Edward started to explain everything that he knew so far which Al only seemed to know some of.  
"They're making it sound like I tried to blow up half of Central or something. Were you at least able to get a hold of Winry for me?"  
"Well I got caught so I was only able to tell her some of what was happening. I don't know if she's coming or not. The soldiers cut my conversation with her short. I'm sorry."

Edward let out a frustrated noise, now feeling totally helpless he let go of the bars and sat down next to the plate of food. They had no proof, no one who was a witness, no way of getting a message out to anyone, and now he didn't even know if the only person who cared enough would come to help. "Brother are you okay."  
"We have to find a way out of this. I'm just trying to think." His tone was low which made Al know he wasn't okay. For once he just hoped she wouldn't stay were she knew it was safe, where she knew they would normally want her to stay, but that she would come to Central.

author's note: my first review! It made me so happy knowing someone likes my story enough to tell me. I also don't mind a little critique either. Thanks so much. 


	9. Chapter 9

Nervously, she walked back and forth across the apartment holding her hands to her chest. She didn't know what to do and pacing seemed to be the only thing she could think of. The boys hadn't returned last night and there had been no word on them being apprehended. Now a whole day had past and there was still no word. She wondered if she would be hunted down too and thrown in jail. She paused for a second in the center of the room as something occurred to her.  
"What if they're tortured and they tell them I was the mastermind the whole time?" She started weeping to herself. Her imagination always made things worse for her.  
Sciezka stopped her wailing when she heard the doorbell ring. She hadn't been expecting anyone and grabbed the largest book she had as a weapon. In one quick movement she opened the door and held the book over her head.  
"You'll never take me alive, I don't know what they told you, it's not true." Winry stared at her in disbelief on the other side of the doorway. Sciezka froze with her weapon still in the air. "W..Winry, what are you doing here?" She wasn't any more relieved it was her good friend from Resembol since she had just lost her two closest friends the day before.

"I got a call from Alphonse. Are you okay?" Winry tilted her head to the side, shifting her luggage on her shoulder. Sciezka slowly brought her book down and let out a sigh.  
"I lost Ed and Al. I'm soo sorry Winry. I don't know what happened." She was almost in tears, hoping Winry wouldn't be upset with her.  
"Somehow I don't think you lost them, they tend to find trouble pretty easy on their own." Sciezka nodded and stepped aside to let her friend inside and closed the door.

Winry slipped out of her coat and removed her boots. Unlike the Elrics, she had been smart enough to dress warmly for the bad weather outside.  
"So you said Al called you, when was that?" Sciezka took a seat on the couch and Winry joined her.  
"Late last night. He told me they were in trouble. Where are Mustang and Hawkeye? Why aren't they helping?"  
"It's a little bit more complicated then that. General Hakuro isn't very fond of alchemists. And as for Mustang and Hawkeye, they got transfered and I don't know where to."  
"Is there anyway to find out?"  
"We'd have to go to the main office, but I don't have the same kind of clearance I had before." Sciezka waved her hands back and forth.  
"Oh come on, last time we didn't really have clearance either. That didn't stop us." Sciezka let out a sigh of defeat.

"It's just been so weird around here, the way things have changed. They said the military was more corrupt when King Bradley was here, but I just feel lately that if I do anything wrong, I'll get arrested to. They have no tolerance anymore."  
"So are you with me?" Winry was more determined then ever. Sciezka shrugged her shoulders and nodded in agreement. "Great, now lets start getting this plan put together." "You and Edward are crazy, you know that right?" Winry disregarded the statement. "Now if they got arrested, wouldn't that be in the paper?"  
"I checked and didn't see anything." Sciezka leaned over the side of the couch and grabbed the newspaper from that day.  
"That's strange, you would think there would be witnesses. Why would the military cover that up?" "Oh there was something about people hearing gunfire yesterday evening and an accident with one of the military's vehicles. Maybe that has to do with them, but again there weren't any details about those stories."

Winry glanced over to see the paragraph about the incident and also felt it was missing a lot of important information. No names were mention and the only specific detail about the situation was that someone had been hit by the car. She could just imagine Ed stealing one of the military's cars and hitting some innocent by standard. Maybe he did belong in jail. Shaking her head, realizing that the idea was too ridiculous she went back to their plans. They plotted far into the night until Sciezka was about to fall asleep where she sat. Her guest stood up and stretched, agreeing it was time for bed. "You can sleep behind the couch, there's already a place set up from when the boys were here." With that her hostess wondered back to her own bedroom, already half asleep.  
With so much to think about, Winry was having a hard time getting to sleep. She hoped Ed and Al were okay, whereever they were. She knew that the challenges tomorrow would be overwhelming and could get her into a lot of trouble too if she wasn't careful. While Sciezka seemed to be terrified about everything going wrong, it was understandable but not helpful. Deciding she needed to get some sleep if she was going to be able to function the next day, she rolled over and got comfortable. 'That's enough, now you're not going to think anymore tonight about any of this. You're just going to go to bed,' she thought closing her eyes and pushing all her concerns aside. She would have to be sharp tomorrow, afterall.

~~~~

The task at hand came sooner then expected as the morning arrived and before she knew it, Winry and Sciezka were now standing outside the main office of the military. She swallowed hard only to find that all the moisture in her mouth was gone. She had managed to fit into one of her friends old uniforms, although she felt that any wrong movement or even breathing could cause it to rip. There was an unnerving feeling in her stomach as she stared up at the intimidating building before them but finally she got a stern look on her face and narrowed her eyes.

"Let's do this." She glanced over at her friend who also seemed to be loosing her nerve. "I said let's do this, so come on." Grabbing hold of Sciezka's jacket, she pulled her towards the front door. Each of them carried several folders in order to look like they belonged there. Winry didn't waste any time once they got inside, she went right for the beast's throat. "Alright where's the head guy here," she said in a low tone to Sciezka who had managed to regain her composure.

"Don't you want to go to the records department first to find out where Mustang was transferred to?"  
"I think we should split up. You go to the records department and I'll head to the main office. Is there a secured phone line here?"  
"Yes, but I think it's in the main office and you'd have to get past the General's secretary to get in there. That's also assuming he's not here today."  
"Well then, what you can do is meet me at the main office, if I get in you can cause a diversion okay?" Once they had a better idea of what they were doing, they went in separate directions, Winry found a directory so she knew how to get to the main office.

"You must be new here." She heard a male voice from behind her. Wanting to jump out of her shoes she kept it together and turned, greeting the other soldier with a smile. "Gee, is it that obvious?" Letting out a fake laugh she lectured herself to be more natural. "I've got these files from my boss that I'm suppose to drop off with the General."

"Sure thing, his office is that way. I'll show you." The soldier was taller then her by a foot but seemed very sincere in helping her. Not wanting to be rude she nodded back. "So when do you get off today?" She might not wanted to be rude but she wasn't about to play into this that much.  
"Later, but I'm suppose to meet up with my boyfriend for dinner. We just transferred here from Eastern Command, do you know of any good places to eat?" That turned the guys interest off of her.  
"Well it depends on what kind of food you like. Where does he work?" Winry wasn't expecting that question and didn't want to say her made up boyfriend was a state alchemist after what she'd heard from Sciezka. "He works in building five over with...uh um..." She was trying to stall so he would fill in the rest.  
"Are you thinking of Arms and Ammunition?" "Yeah that's it. He told me something about an accident the other night and they went through a lot of bullets. Did you hear about that?"

They turned a corner and walked down another long hallway. Winry hoped he would tell her more information before they got to the office.  
"They were chasing one of those traitors to the state. He showed up in town a couple of days ago. I heard one of our guys accidentally nailed him with a car. They're trying not to let the public know about it. Doesn't make us look too good." Her heart sank in her chest when he finished his statement but quickly came back.  
"Well, people should know not to run from the military. We're just trying to keep people safe." The soldier let out a laugh at her false determination.  
"You really are new around here. Anyway, here's the main office and good luck with that boyfriend of yours." He ended the conversation pretty fast and headed in the other direction.

"I should do this more often, I'm good at it." Grinning at her accomplishment, she turned to the secretary who was busy on the phone. Holding up the folder, she motioned that she needed to go inside. The lady sitting at the desk just waved her in, not thinking too much of it. So far they were really lucking out. She opened one of the double doors and entered the Furer's office. The General was not there so she immediately headed over to the desk to look around for anything that might be helpful. Pulling on one of the side drawers, she noticed it was locked. "Think that's gonna stop me, you're so wrong." She reached into her pocket and retrieved one of her lock picks and went to work. With in seconds it was open and she knew why it had been locked in the first place. There were several files with various labels referring to the Lior incident as well as the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Flipping through the pages, she decided to remove all the contents and place them in her empty folder she had been carrying. Quickly checking the other drawers there was nothing else of use to her. As she went to leave, she heard a man's voice on the other side of th door and noticed the doorknob beginning to turn. She had to think fast and ducked under the desk just as General Hakuro walked into the room. There was nowhere for her to go and if she got caught with the information she had, she would most definitely end up in the same place Ed and Al probably were. She could hear his heavy footsteps coming closer to the desk. 


	10. Chapter 10

Winry bit her bottom lip and held her breath as she anticipated each of General Hakuro's movements around the office. He came closer to the desk, moving around to the chair. Pressing her back up as far back as possible, trying to take up the least amount of space possible. There would be no explanation for her being in his office and hiding under the desk. Hakuro took a seat and brought the chair closer, bringing tears to the corner of Winry's eyes.

Just when all seemed hopeless, there was the sudden shrill sound that echoed through the halls. The alarm made her almost jump from freight. Hakuro immediately stood and headed out to the hallway. "What's going on out here?" Winry heard him ask his secretary. "It's the fire alarm, I'm not sure where the fire is." She heard his voice become muffled as the door closed behind him. Breathing in some very much needed air, she remained where she was, in case he came back in. After a couple of minutes of still hiding, she heard the door open again.

Unsure of whether someone was coming in, she remained still. Someone walked further in, not saying anything.  
"Winry, are you in here?" She heard Sciezka and quickly came out of her hiding place. Once she saw her come out from behind the desk she let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness, I was afraid you got caught. I set off the alarm." Brushing off her skirt, Winry came out, still holding the file of information.  
"We should get out of here before they come back. Forget about calling anyone." With that they hurried out of the office and out one of the emergancy exits.

~~~~ Sciezka flopped down on the couch, feeling exhausted from the morning's events. Her life was usually quiet and didn't have soo much excitement.  
"When I saw the General go in his office I was soo worried you'd gotten caught."  
"If you hadn't pulled that alarm like you did, then I probably would have." She sat down on the floor, placing the folder on the coffee table and opened it up. There was a lot of information that she didn't understand and a couple of things that only Edward would be able to explain. As she got to the end of the file, she found out what had happened the other night.  
"Ed was in an accident," she told Sciezka, getting her immediate attention. "Alphonse was injured too." Continuing to read, she realized that they were taken to the hospital but were already released.  
"So where are they now?"  
"They were moved to confinement in the lock down facility."  
"You mean their in Bailey?"  
"Yeah, that's what this says, but how did you know?" Winry glanced up surprised.  
"That building is where they put only the most serious cases. I knew the General had a problem with alchemists but that's pretty extreme."  
"Is there anyway to get in there?  
"It's almost impossible. They don't let just anyone in there. They switch out the guards in eight hour shifts but only the higher ups have clearance."

Winry leaned back on her hands, thinking of how they could get in. Unfortunately neither one of them knew many higher ups. "Would they allow someone to enter if they were there on behalf of a higher up?" Sciezka shook her head, sadly.  
"No, they would have to be present. We would have to get a hold of Mustang, he's the only one I can think of who would help us out."  
"Were you able to find out where he was relocated to?" Sciezka smiled successfully when Winry asked.  
"Yes. they put him back at Eastern headquarters. It wouldn't take much to get a message to him."  
"You said something about a secured phone line. Is yours not secured?"  
"It's nothing like that, but we don't know if anyone else is listening in on my phone. Lately anyone who appears suspicious to the military, they keep close tabs on."

There was something odd about that but Winry figured it wasn't worth asking why. They would just have to find somewhere that would be safer."  
"What about a public phone? Do they listen in on those?" "I don't think they do. If you called from a public phone anonymously. They can't really come after you if you don't identify yourself." "That's true. Well let's go find a public phone." Sciezka made a face and slouched some. "What's wrong?"  
"Can't I take a minute to rest first?" Winry sighed and nodded in agreement but she really didn't want to waste any time. The more time they took, the longer Ed and Al had to be locked up.

~~~~ Edward lay on the floor next to the door of his cell. There was no point laying on the cot in the corner since it was just as hard as the floor. Alphonse was leaning against one of the walls in his cell, occupying his time with his thoughts.  
"You know Brother, they never said anything to me about how long we would be in here. You?" Ed was lazily running his finger along the stone floor, bored out of his mind.  
"Nope, me either. I'd like to think they can't keep us here forever. We didn't go through all we did to get our bodies back just so we could rot in jail the rest of our lives." Al knew his brother had a point but his sulking tone of voice didn't make the situation any better. It was typical Ed to get to the point of discouragement where he was just sarcastic and annoyed. There was almost no point in talking to him.

The large metal door at the end of the hallway opened, scrapping along the floor. There were two sets of footsteps that came closer to the front of Ed's cell. He sat up staring at the door, waiting for them to come into view. "They want to talk to you again." It was the only explanation he was going to get. Ed stayed were he was on the floor, just glaring up at the two soldiers as they unlocked the door. Forcing him to his feet, they pulled Edward out regardless of whether or not he wanted to come. Alphonse watched as they escorted his brother out, unable to do anything to help.

~~~~ The phone rang several times as Winry held the receiver close to her mouth and glanced over her shoulder to make sure there was no one else around the tiny phone booth on the corner. But it was much later then she had planned and the only movement at this hour was a street light that kept flickering and the occasional car passing. Sciezka stood on the corner across the street keeping an eye out for anyone as well. Winry couldn't remember being this nervous waiting for someone to pick up. The longer it took, the more on edge she became.  
There was no way they had all left for the day, there were always people around, right?

~~~~ The phone rang...and rang and rang. Mustang was finishing up some last minute gruelling work he'd been putting off when his focus was broken. "Is there no one else here who can answer that damn phone?" Grudgingly he moved out to the front desk and grabbed up the receiver. "You'd better have a good reason for calling." "Well that's a nice way to answer the phone." Mustang was dumbfounded as he tried to remember which girl this particular voice belonged to.  
"Soo...what can I do for you." He was hoping for some kind of clue.  
"You probably don't remember me. I specialize in Automail." A light bulb went off in Roy's head.  
"Ahh, you're from Resembol." She was definitely not someone he expected hearing from.  
"I have a favor to ask of you." 


	11. Chapter 11

After another long pointless interrogation, Edward was brought back to his cell. It seemed each time, they got less and less information from him but treated him even worse. With one final hard shove, they closed the door behind him and left the hallway. Alphonse leaned through the bars of his cell as best he could.  
"Brother, are you okay?" There was no answer so he decided to drop it. Ed slid down to the floor, pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms around his legs almost for comfort. They kept bringing up dates that he supposedly committed all these crimes, but he knew he hadn't been in Central. He kept going through any possible theory where he could have been in two places at once but the only theory that made sense was Envy. Despite his personal dislike for the homunculus, he actually had an iron clad alibi.

And then there was Dante. She was still in Central at the time of the attack he was being blamed for but did she even have the power to pull anything back then? He started a count on his fingers, trying to think of anyone else who had a grudge against him. Unfortunately it was more people then he wanted to admit. Now that he thought about it, since it had been determined that the Furer was most likely defeated by Mustang, there weren't too many homunculus left. Maybe Gluttony and probably Wrath although who knows what happened to him. Did Dante have enough resources to make any other homunculi? As ridiculous as it all seemed to be, his line of thinking made perfect sense when you took everything that had happened into account.  
Someone had to be framing him, but it wasn't so much why they were but who they were.

Of course if the answer was as far fetched as he imagined it to be, he wouldn't even come close. The last time he saw Dante in Resembol she didn't look to be fairing well. The chances of her having enough power to do anything too drastic could be ruled out. He realized how much he wished his teacher was there, helping with this problem. She could helped him figure it out, even testify for him, at the very least she would try to break him out. There was no reason he had to beat himself up for not knowing the answers. He didn't seem to be going anywhere fast, so he wouldn't have to know anything just yet. Even if he did know, what good would it do him in there anyway? Deciding to forget about it for now, he knew he wasn't giving up just yet.

~~~~

"So do you remember that little guy who use to be under your command?" The question sounded so stupid to Winry but she wasn't sure if the line was secured or not so she had to be as vague as possible.  
"Oh yeah your talking about that little runt with the fired up temper, whatever happened to him?"  
"He's been arrested for clapping too much and no one here believes him."  
"Really I had no idea they had laws against clapping. But he was always loud and obnoxious about that wasn't he." Roy already had a very good idea of what she was talking about. It wasn't the first time he'd used code in a phone conversation and Winry's wasn't as clean cut as he was used to but it worked still.

"The head guy here has him locked up and your the only person who can get him out. Is there anyway you can come here?" Roy rubbed his chin trying to determine if this was really worth his time. After all the Fullmetal Alchemist was no longer his concern nor under his authority.  
"I'm really not suppose to come around that place, ever since the last head guy went missing, they felt it best to move me so no one would come after me. But since it's for an old friend, I think I can drop in. I'll take the first train tomorrow. How's that sound?" Winry had to blink several times before coming back to the conversation. Was he honestly being this nice?  
"Uh yes, that would be great."  
"Hawkeye and I will see you tomorrow then." Winry said thank you and hung up the receiver. As soon as a car passed she hurried over to her friend who was busy rubbing her hands together.  
"Well what happened?" "He's coming tomorrow. I hope he can fix all this." She rubbed her arms as well, now noticeing how cold it was. All the excitement about getting a hold of him, she must have forgotten the temperature.  
"Great, now lets get inside quick." Sciezka was starting to shake. At least the walk back to the apartment wouldn't be too far.

~~~~ It was hard to tell what time it was in a cell with no windows. The only way to tell what time of the day it was was by what kind of horrible food the guard brought. Edwards stomach made a loud grumble that even his brother could hear. Considering how bad the food was, he had only really picked at whatever was given. While Alphonse tried to eat as much as he could, Ed was much more fussy about his food. At least he was until he's desperate.

Ed sat up from his place on the floor, cringing from the ache from his chest. His ribs still hurt if he moved to quickly. The idea of breaking out was becoming more and more appealing to him but that would also make him look guilty.  
"Hey Al? What do you want to do?" He pressed himself against the bars.  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
"We're kinda at a cross roads here. I don't know what else we can do to plead our case and I don't know what they're planning on doing with us."  
"So you want to break out? Brother that would never work and besides what if they just caught us again? Isn't the situation bad enough?"

Edward hated it but Alphonse was right. They really couldn't do much other then sit around this place and wait. But Ed hated waiting. "If someone was smart enough to get us into this mess, I want to find them and punch their face in."  
"But we don't even know who's responsible for it in the first place. There's no point rushing into anything." Al had always tried to be the voice of reason even if his brother didn't always listen to him.

The steel door at the end of the hallway opened and someone walked in. Their boots echoed loudly off the walls, announcing their arrival.  
"Breakfast time." The soldiers tone was cold as he gave Al his and then headed down to Ed's cell.  
"So how long do we have to stay here?" His curiosity made Alphonse want to smack him but he wanted some kind of answer. The guard looked down at him as though he was sizing him up.  
"You might actually be in luck. They don't think you're Fullmetal." Ed had a hard time not letting his jaw drop.  
"What? How come?" The man standing outside his cell pointed down at his right arm.  
"Everyone knows Fullmetal had an automail arm and leg. You have neither which wouldn't make you the same person."  
"Okay, so can you let me go?" The soldier let out a low laugh that sounded maniacal.  
"Seriously? If you're not Fullmetal, you're still in trouble for impersonating him. Either way, you're not going anywhere."

Edward balled his fists and tried not to seem too upset, but the mockery of the guard infuriated him. He was left once again alone in his cell with his breakfast. But as hungry as he was earlier, he didn't feel like eating now.  
"This doesn't make any sense. Why would they now decide that." Alphonse stated, his tone was also angry.  
"They're really acting stupid. What do I have to do, blow up the building to prove who I am." Of course Ed always had to take it to the next level of insanity which caused Al to back off on venting at him. Regardless of whether they determined he was the Fullmetal Alchemist or not, it wasn't getting them out of jail.

~~~~ 


	12. Chapter 12

It was around noon when the blond waited at the platform of the train station. The wind picked up and made her bare skin between her skirt and her boots, almost sting. She pulled her jacket closed and took a seat on a bench nearby, rubbing her knees with her free hand. The train she was waiting on seemed to be running late. Catching her reflection in a window, she made a face as she noticed her nose was red. If she had to wait too long, she ran the risk of getting sick. The thought didn't make her feel any warmer. Another half hour went by and finally the train whistle could be heard in the distance.

Standing up she leaned forward on the platform, feeling relief as the train came into view. It wasn't long before it came to a hault and the doors opened. Several unfamiliar faces passed her until she caught sight of two individuals she knew. Roy Mustang had his head turned as he was speaking to Riza Hawkeye as they exited the train. He turned forward and made eye contact with the young blond girl who had been waiting for them. She was someone who he didn't always feel comfortable talking with since there was a sad past with her. But all of that seemed to have faded long ago and she didn't hold anything over his head as though she was somehow better. Although if she had he would understand since it was him who made her an orphan.

Her warm smile greeted them, but there seemed to be worry behind it. Roy forced a smile back, even if his visit was an inconvenience he figured the grim look on his face would not make her feel any more confident in his presence.  
"Miss Rockbell, how are you?" "You don't have to be so formal. You can call me Winry. I wanted to give you this." She pulled out the file that she had stolen from the main office. He handed it to Hawkeye and she placed it with her other papers.  
"There's suppose to be a car waiting for us." Hawkeye mentioned looking around. Grabbing the luggage Roy signaled for the two women to follow him. They made it around the corner to see a black police vehicle with the engine running. As they got closer, Roy grit his teeth and shot a look to Riza. Winry watched as she moved the file from the front of her folders to the back.

The back window rolled down and Hakuro made his presence known. His facial expression didn't reflect any joy of Mustang being there. They had definately not gotten along in the past. Mustang even wondered if he would be arrested as well.  
"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Roy. What brings you to Central?" Winry recognized his voice and held back her surprised, now realizing who was meeting them. Mustang wasn't pleased with the informal way he spoke to him.  
"I heard one of my subordinates got into trouble. Figured I'd find out what's going on." Hakuro's cold gaze went from Mustang to Winry.  
"I see, don't know how you could have heard about that. Why don't we head to my office and we can straighten all this out."  
"Actually we're kind of tired, General. I think we need to rest up first before getting to any investigations. It was a long train ride."  
"Well let me drive you to the dorms." He pushed the door open and moved over.

They reluctantly got into the car. Roy knew this car ride was going to be awkward as he handed the suitcase to Riza. She placed it on her lap covering the files, hoping Hakuro didn't notice.  
"So what would you like to know about your subordinate?"  
"For one what is he being charged with?" Mustang sat across from Hakuro with his arms folded over his chest.  
"Well for one he attacked Central about a year ago. That doesn't even include the treason charge from before that. Actually I'm missing my file on the case. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" His glare went from Winry back to Roy.  
"Wish I did, but I haven't been here and I'm pretty sure Fullmetal wasn't here either when this alledged attack happened." Hakuro leaned forward, bringing his hands together.  
"If there was only some kind of proof of that. Even he's having a hard time explaining himself."  
"Maybe it's your mens manners. I'm sure they're treating a fellow soldier well." Hakuro snickered and leaned back against the seat again.  
"As well as can be expected."  
"And his brother, Alphonse?"  
"He's in our custody as well. It wouldn't have to be this way if they had just cooperated."

Mustang was starting to understand how much things in Central had changed and not for the better. Hakuro had become more stubborn then he had remembered and perhaps the power had gone to his head.  
"Well if he is guilty, what are you proposing?"  
"I actually haven't decided yet. There's a lot to consider. Just as long as there is a punishment. He has to pay."  
"Maybe I should take over this investigation."  
"I think we're doing fine without your help." Winry swallowed hard unsure with how this conflict would end. Both Generals seemed unmovable.

Finally after what felt like several minutes, Mustang adjusted himself in the seat and let out a tired sigh. "There really is no reason to disagree about this right now. I'd still like to get his side of the story though. He might not want to talk to your people." Hakuro let out a huff as if grudgingly agreeing to end the conversation. The car came to a stop as they had reached their destination. Winry was the first to open the back door. She felt uncomfortable around Hakuro for some reason and just wanted out of the car. Riza got out as well, lightly tugging on Mustang to follow.

As much as he wanted to say one final nasty comment to the other General about his conduct, he decided it would be best to let it drop for now. He exited the back seat and headed for the dormitory, the whole way feeling Hakuro's eyes on them. Once inside the building, he made eye contact with his subordinate.  
"Where's that folder?" She glanced down at her files and pulled it out. "All this mess over that smart mouthed little..." He grumbled to himself as he flipped through the pages, reading any particular part that caught his eye. They walked to one of the more decorated rooms and Riza placed his suitcase down.

"Sir, is there anything else you need from me?" Her tone was soft as always as she waited patiently for him to finish. Winry found it best to just stay out of the way and let them take over from there. Although she was still interested to see what they would do.  
"Aw hell no. Do I get any credit for anything? They're still considering the Furer as missing?" He was yelling into the folder as though it was what was causing the problem. "We need to arrange a meeting with every higher up in Central. This has to be fixed, no more cover ups." He finished reading what was necessary and handed the file back to Hawkeye. As much as Winry hoped they were going to demand Ed and Al be released that day, she had a feeling it was going to be more involved then that now.

~~~~ The soldiers had taken Alphonse from his cell several hours ago for more questioning. Edward was not okay with it and made sure they knew his opinion on the matter. Once again he found himself bored out of his head and staring at the ceiling. The days were starting to blur together to the point that he wasn't even sure what day it was. He probably could have figured it out pretty easy as there were several plates stacked in the corner, some still with food on them from when he refused to eat. Breaking out seemed more and more appealing every hour he was required to sit there.

He heard the door scrapping open and he sat up, waiting to see if they had brought his brother back. There was no sound after that, no cell door squealing on it's hinges, no foot steps. He must have imagined it and dropped his head back down, placing his arms behind for support.  
"Edward?" The familiar soft female voice came from in front of his cell. He shot back up, staring in disbelief as Winry stood on the otherside of the bars.  
"Winry, how'd you get in here?"  
"I snuck in." She placed her hand on the bars in front of her, that kept him away from her. "Can't you get out?" He shook his head and let out a quiet sigh.  
"No, if I use alchemy to get out, then I'll look even more guilty."  
"But you're not guilty though."

She looked so pleading and confused about what was going on. He wondered why she still believed in him. He got up, brushing the back of his pants off and walked over to her. Placing his hands on hers, he looked down at her and smiled grimly.  
"You don't have to worry about us." In his head he couldn't help but wonder why he'd said that. Didn't he want her here, to help? It didn't make any sense. She pulled her hands away and shook her head.  
"Even if this is what you deserve, I had to see it for myself." Her statement made no sense.  
"Winry, what do you mean?" The sad look on her face quickly changed to a malicious one. Turning back to him, she grinned as though the situation amused her.  
"It's like your some kind of animal on display. Kinda funny really."

He wasn't laughing though nor did he find her sudden changing demeanor a joke either. She leaned up, placing her face through the bars and next to his ear. "As enjoyable as the look on your face is right now, I can think of a better one." There was no movement on her part as Ed felt the sharp object pierce through him. The pain so unbearable that it cause his vision to go blurry. He dropped his head, searching for some kind of weapon in her hand only to find that her arm was now a long spike going through his stomach.  
"Nnnooo..." His voice became weak as he tried to move away.  
"Now that's the look I wanted to see." Her voice came out as Envy's. "You've always been so trusting," he laughed in Ed's ear as he leaned harder into him.

Ed jerked from sleep, grabbing at his mid section and taking in a deep breath. He must have fallen asleep at some point but his dream had felt so real that he found himself shaking. He remembered all too vividly what it felt like to die and it was terrifying to him. After taking in several breaths he heard his name called and it almost made him shutter.  
"Brother, are you okay? What's going on over there?" They must have brought Alphonse back when he was sleeping. He searched for words to say, trying to bring himself back to reality.  
"I..I'm fine. It's was just a bad dream. Sorry Al."

Al sat back against the wall unsure of his brother's answer. He had been worried about Ed's state of mind for awhile now. For so long he dealt with a lot of the garbage they went through on his own and Al couldn't help but wonder if he was still dealing with it. There was a sudden blue flash of light in the corner of Ed's cell and several sparks afterward. He turned to see Al had made a door between their cells and walked into his side. As much as Ed wanted to lecture him about using alchemy, he was still too shaken up.  
"They're not coming back for awhile, I'll fix the wall then. So tell me what's going on?" Ed actually felt relieved to see him and let out a tired sigh. 


	13. Chapter 13

Mustang sat at the front of a long table in one of the largest conference rooms available. With a stern look on his face and his arms crossed he watched as each of the higher ups entered the room, greeting each other happily. He had called for this meeting and made sure Hakuro was not invited. He was sure his actions were being watched closely anyway but didn't care. Earlier he had sent Winry away, letting her know he would keep her informed as soon as he knew anything. She seemed displeased but he had bigger problems and she would just have to get over it.

Riza closed the double doors to the room once everyone was inside and had taken their seat. She sat outside the room making sure no one else tried to interfere with the meeting. Roy loudly cleared his throat letting them all know he was ready to begin.  
"I want to know what kind of accountability we have going on here. General Hakuro is clearly abusing his authority." He always did get right to the point about this kind of stuff. He waited for them to respond before he continued. One taller gentleman stood up at the other end of the table to answer.  
"We haven't seen him really abusing his authority. He's just trying to keep Central in order. Things might be a little strick around here, but we haven't had any more problems since he took over."

"Really? Then why are two alchemists being imprisoned when they haven't had a solid charge brought against them? Any charges of being a traitor brought against Fullmetal should have already been dropped due to the change in command. Another man at the end of the table brought his hand up.  
"If you are referring to the Furer, we still don't know what happened to him and just because he's missing doesn't mean that any commands he made are forgotten."  
"I understand that but I am telling you after speaking to Fullmetal, I have concluded he was never a traitor. Furthermore, the Furer is dead. I witness this myself as well as the fact that he was not human. I was right then and I am right now about Hakuro as well."

"Regardless how you feel your opinion matters General, we would have to investigate this matter just like all matters."  
"Why can't you just admit that he has a problem with alchemists? Because of what, one attack on Central that no one can verify who was responsible." Finally the oldest man there spoke up.  
"There is nothing wrong with making sure there is accountability. I will agree to sign a waver for Fullmetal and the other alchemist to be released as long as they stay in the city and agree to make themselves available. Is that okay with you, General Mustang?" It was at least a start in the right direction and he was surprised that they didn't question his claims about the Furer any further.  
"That would be fine and I will even make sure to keep an eye on them if it makes you feel any better."  
"Very well then."

Riza stood as the doors opened and everyone walked out. They all seemed to be in good spirits and she wondered how the meeting went. Roy was still inside, getting his papers together.  
"So how'd it go?"  
"It went fine, sometimes it seems that all they need is for someone to give them a pretty speech that sounds nice. They tend to be kind of gullible." She glance behind her at the door, making sure none of them heard him but then again, he never did care about that. "We've got our release waver for the boys which makes everything work out for our benefit. Now you want to get some lunch?" He smiled at her as his confidence was now obvious.  
"Shouldn't we get the boys first?" "Yeah, I guess we should. Alright jail first then food. And let Miss Rockbell know about this." She nodded and remained straight faced even though she was relieved his blunt accusations didn't get him thrown in jail with them.

~~~~ The Elrics knew it had to be late afternoon since they were both starving and no one had brought them anything to eat yet. Al had already closed up the wall and went back to his cell. Now both of them were laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.  
"Do you think they forgot about us?" Alphonse voice came out almost as a whine.  
"They better not have or I'm gonna start chewing on the bars. Maybe we can make them into food and just eat our way out. That sounds good." Edward was almost drooling on himself at the thought.  
"No, they have to come eventually." Several minutes passed and there was no sound of anyone coming. Ed's patience was wearing thin.  
"Maybe this is some kind of torture."  
"I can think of better ways I'm sure."

More time went by and Ed's proposal about the bars was starting to sound like a good idea. The door was suddenly forced open quickly and two guards walked in, each holding something.  
"Yes, food! I don't even care what it is anymore." Ed sat up surprisingly enthusiastic but stopped when he noticed the guard wasn't holding his lunch. Unlocking the cell door, the soldier walked in holding a blue uniform.  
"You're kidding right?"  
"You and your brother are being released but you're not to leave the city." He shoved the clothing into Edwards hands and exited the cell, actually giving him privacy. Once he changed he walked out and found Alphonse in the hallway also changed but in his normal clothes. Edward made a face, wishing he had his own clothes as well.  
"Lucky you." His tone was dry and he pulled at his collar. "Let's just get out of here." They followed the soldier out the main door, thankful to be leaving. Up in the lobby, the officer handed each of them a black long coat.

Outside Mustang and Hawkeye were waiting for them. At first Ed was surprised to see them since he had figured Winry wasn't able to help. Mustang actually grinned as they walked out, he hadn't known whether they had managed to get their bodies back. He also noticed the uniform and smiled more.  
"Hey nice uniform, never thought I'd see that."  
"Shut up, I'm not in the mood." It never did take much to annoy him.  
"So I guess you're still getting into trouble as always, huh?" Ed smirked at the statement, not surprised that the sarcasm had already started.  
"Yeah, well what took you so long. Do you know what prison can do to a person?"  
"Certainly didn't affect your mouth." Ed remembered he was hungry again and realized he was not up for this conversation.  
"But it affected my appetite. We're starving." Al nodded in agreement. Mustang and Hawkeye were speechless, not expecting Ed to end the conversation so quickly. Roy let out a sigh and motioned for them to follow him to the car.  
"Let's go find somewhere to eat but you have to tell me everything you know." Ed waved his hand back and forth at his comment.  
"Yeah yeah fine, can we just eat."

They got into the car and Riza started up the engine. They found a nice place for lunch and ordered their food. Mustang leaned his elbows on the table and placed his chin on his hands.  
"So you want to tell me what's been going on?"  
"I wish I knew more, we got here at the beginning of the week and were suddenly fugitives just cause we use alchemy. When did that become a crime?"  
"I'm not sure when it happened, I was asked to relocate back to Eastern Headquarters before all this started."  
"What about this whole incident involving some kind of attack on the city? That's what they're really mad about but I wasn't here and even if I was, I'd have no reason to cause any damage."  
"Maybe they think you don't need a reason. Although I don't know what's going on in Hakuro's head. I think he just has a problem with alchemy."

Edward took a minute to think. Al decided to get into the conversation as well, even though he really didn't know any more then they did.  
"Did you always have a problem with him? I mean didn't you work with him before he got all this power?"  
Mustang sat back in his seat, curious as to why Al would ask that since he even knew Hakuro a little bit. Ed answered before Mustang could ask the question.  
"Al doesn't remember everything from before. So he doesn't know how you two weren't really close."  
"Yeah, he didn't want to acknowledge any problems within the miliary at all and when I finally took a stand against the Furer he came after me when they thought I was up in the North."

Ed thought about what Roy had just said and brought his hand down on the table as though something crucial occurred to him.  
"Wait a second, when did he get back from the North?"  
"I don't kow but then I wouldn't know when he left to go up there either since I never left. I found out about it after the incident at the Furer's home."  
"But they would have that information documented right?"  
"Brother what are you getting at."  
"What I'm getting at is that maybe he didn't come back when we think he did. That maybe there's more to this then we think."  
The waitress walked up with their food and they stopped their conversation until she left. After Edward got several bites of food he let out a sigh and got right back where he left off.  
"I think we should look at the records on his return. For all we know he wasn't even here for this supposed attack he's claiming happened. He might just be angry at you," he told Roy.  
"Gee thanks."  
"But even if he wasn't here, there is so much evidence that something happened here," Riza mentioned as well.  
"You two weren't here though for it, was he back before you went to Eastern Headquarters?" Mustang and Hawkeye exchanged looks before answering.  
"Now that you mention it, we never saw him even after I got out of the hospital. I don't know who the orders came from."

Ed gave him a confused look as he took several more bites of his meal and swallowed quickly.  
"The hospital?"  
"You've gone up against homunculi, it's no tea party."  
"So I guess you won?" Ed didn't sound very confident after knowing how badly he got beaten.  
"I lived didn't I? Anyway finding out when Hakuro got back would be a good start, maybe find out when he started being so hostile." Edward nodded in agreement. He was happy they finally had a plan or at least a starting point after wasting so much time. When the waitress brought the bill Ed and Al waited to see if Roy would pick it up. He eyed them both, knowing where this was headed.  
"Are you serious?"  
"Hey, they froze my account. What do you want me to do, wash dishes?"  
"That would be a start. Besides by now, they should have unfroze it." Ed leaned forward with a somewhat evil grin on his face.  
"Yeah but that's technically your money too, so it doesn't really make much difference either way." Alphonse hung his head, ashamed at his brother's response. Mustang let out a sigh and pulled out his own wallet.  
"You owe me a meal," he warned receiving an even bigger grin from Ed.

Once they finished their meal, they walked outside to the car. The weather wasn't as bad as when the Elrics first got there as most of the snow had melted and the sun was out. Riza opened the driver's side door and sat behind the wheel.  
"So can you drop us off at the records building?" Edward asked as Roy opened his door as well.  
"Yeah I guess, you certainly are asking for a lot of favors lately." Riza put the key into the ignition and went to start the engine but all she got was several clicks.  
"Guess I'm just making up for lost time." Riza tried it again only to get the same reaction. She moved out from behind the wheel quickly and walked around the car. Mustang watched her come around with a concerned look on her face.  
"What's wrong?" He waited to see what she was going to do. "Is the car not working?"  
"I think someone did something to it." She moved farther away from it then the rest of them.  
"So what you think it's gonna blo..." Before he could finish his statement there were several crackling sounds from the engine before the whole car exploded, sending pieces of metal flying. 


	14. Chapter 14

Flames and debris now cluttered the street. Several people standing nearby looked on to see if anyone was hurt. The four closest to the car had moved as fast as they could before the initial explosion but the force of the blast still threw them to the ground. Edward pushed himself up, coughing from the smoke. His ribs ached from landing so hard and coughing didn't help. Opening his eyes, he first saw Alphonse was okay. Roy sat up rubbing his head and letting out an annoyed groan.  
"Guess that's what I get for being sarcastic. Great now someone's trying to kill us," he grumbled and looked over at Ed. "You really do have the worst luck."  
"Oh you're blaming this on me?"  
"No one's tried to blow us up till now." He stood up, brushing off his uniform.

Ed got up as well and went over to help his younger brother up. Al was holding his shoulder that was already injured. Straightening up all the way, he assured Ed he was okay. Riza pulled something out of her hair, she couldn't tell if it was just dirt or something from the car. "It's not like every day someone tries to blow us up." Ed brushed his coat off.  
"So what number would this be then? Attempts I mean?" Edward ignored the question and was figuring out what they were going to do now. Standing out by the accident was probably not a good idea if someone was that serious about getting rid of them.  
"That many, huh?" Mustang placed his hands in his pockets and grinned knowing he was getting under Ed's skin. He growled back still trying to ignore him. He tugged on Al's coat and they headed away from the charred vehicle. "Hey were are you going?"

Ed turned and met Roy with a glare, his amber eyes as fiery as ever. Despite his obvious demeanor, Mustang still required a response.  
"You want them to see we survived? Besides we still have to get to the bottom of this."  
"Yeah but wouldn't it be smarter to lay low for awhile," Hawkeye asked him. Alphonse decided to intervene in the conversation as well.  
"There's no point in laying low, the only way to do that would be to leave and we can't do that anyway. We're better off finding out what we need to before it's too late." He also looked just as determined as Ed. Roy dropped his head and let out a tired sigh.  
"Listen, cars blowing up wears me out but if you're still up for getting those records then I'll come too."  
"Really? Are you sure that's wise, Sir," Riza asked causing him to turn to her.  
"No one tries to blow me up and gets away with it."

Now that they had decided to continue with their plans they quickly moved out of sight and avoided the crowd closing in on the scene. Taking one of the side streets, Mustang led the way to the correct building where they could investigate the recent activities of the military.

~~~~ "So did you find anything out?" Winry asked her friend as she placed the receiver down in her kitchen. Sciezka glanced over, unsure if her news was good or bad. "They're not there anymore but the soldier on the phone wouldn't tell me if they were released or if they escaped."  
"Well if they escaped I'm sure they would have asked you if you knew anything. But they should have come back here by now. Where else would they have gone?" With that she headed over to the door and grabbed her coat. Sciezka hurried after her.  
"Where are you going?"  
"Where do you think, I am going to go look for them and give them a piece of my mind."

She pulled out a wrench to demonstrate how she would let them know how she felt. "I came all this way and busted my butt helping out, the least I should get is some kind of gratitude." Opening the door, she placed her hand on the knob and gave Sciezka a devious grin. "Don't wait up." Closing the door she realized she wasn't sure where she was headed so she figured she would start at the prison and go from there.

~~~~ The sun was now setting, bringing an unsettling darkness in on the city. By the time Edward and the others made it to the records department, it was closed for the day. For some reason they had closed early which was unusual. Mustang was really starting to believe that there was something much bigger going on now after the days events. They went back to the dorms to decide their next course of action. Hawkeye headed to her room to sleep as the other three looked over Ed's file that Roy had.  
"Wow, they really think I did all this, that's impressive." Edward turned the page.  
"Yeah well it's not so impressive when some of what they are claiming you were responsible for, I did. I brought down the Furer and didn't want to brag about it but now I'm starting to change my mind." Alphonse tried to hold back his laughter.

After a couple of hours discussing every angle the Elric brothers decided to call it a night. They thought about just staying in the dorms but realized that Sciezka still didn't know they were okay yet. They headed out onto the street. Although it wasn't too late, just after ten, they found the streets empty.  
"I wonder if they've enforced a curfew too." Ed laughed at his own comment as they walked. It must have been snowing earlier as there was a fresh layer of white covering everything. Al pulled his collar up around his neck as Ed placed his hands in his pockets.  
"The weather's been so weird lately, don't you think?" Ed gave him a skeptical look.  
"We haven't exactly been outside a lot but it's winter. It's usually snowing like this."  
"Yeah I guess you're right." Al scratched the back of his head.

As they turned a corner they were coming up on the prison. Ed was trailing behind Alphonse when he bumped into his back.  
"Hey, what're you stopping for? I don't want to be out here all night." Alphonse pointed in front of him at why he stopped.  
"Isn't that Winry?" Edward looked around his brother to see a blond girl laying on a bench on the side of the street. Taking off running, Al was on his heels as they reached her. Her eyes were closed and she looked flushed. Her one arm draped over the side of the bench still clutching her wrench.  
"Is she sleeping," Al inquired as he looked over her. Edward leaned down and placed his hand on her forehead.

"She's really hot." Carefully he shook her shoulder. "Winry, come on get up." She opened her eyes slightly, trying to remember where she was. All she knew was that her head had started to hurt and she sat down for a minute. There was no way to know how long she had been there.  
"We should bring her back to Sciezka's," Alphonse suggested as he straightened up. "Yeah, help me get her up." Ed pulled her shoulders and brought her into a sitting position. Her head leaned off to the side as her eye slid closed again. Al got her head up as well and helped lift her onto his brother's back. Ed made an unpleasant face.  
"Ugh, she's heavy."

They headed in the direction of the apartment which was thankfully only a couple of blocks away. Alphonse knocked on the door several times before Sciezka answered. Although he still looked uncomfortable from his heavy load on his back, Ed's expression did show his concern. Sciezka immediately knew something was wrong and opened the door all the way.  
"What happened?" Ed didn't answer her right away as he moved as quickly as possible over to the couch and placed Winry down. Alphonse turned to Sciezka and asked for some extra blankets and a cold wash cloth. She disappeared into the back room and he went over to the couch were his brother was leaning over catching his breath.

Alphonse kneeled down and pulled Winry's boots off and brought her feet up. She turned her head some, trying to get comfortable. Sciezka returned with two heavy blankets and a damp washcloth for Winry's head.  
Alphonse took the blankets and covered her up.  
"I hope she feels better in the morning," he mentioned once he was done tucking her in. Ed was stretching his back and let out a huff.  
"I don't get what she was doing out in this weather anyway." Sciezka shot him an irritated look.  
"We found out you were released and she wanted to see you." He glanced back shocked at her tone. "Where'd you go anyway?" Not enjoying the third degree from her he crossed his arms and got sarcastic as always.  
"Before or after our car blowing up?"

"Brother, stop it," Alphonse stood and turned to him. "Winry and Sciezka have been worried about us, you don't have to be like that. You're the one who wanted Winry to help anyway." Ed let out a long sigh as though he was releasing his frustrations out that way instead. Staring off to the side and bitting his bottom lip he mumbled an apology.  
"What about this car blowing up?" Sciezka looked over at Alphonse. He wasn't expecting her to ask him about that.  
"Well after we met up with Mustang and Hawkeye, their car kinda exploded. We don't know who did it either."  
"That sounds serious. What are you going to do about it?"  
"Still don't have any leads on this, but we'll get to the bottom," Ed mentioned, stifling a yawn. He suddenly realized he was tired. Sciezka decided she was going to head off to bed so that the Elrics could get some sleep as well.  
"I'll see you in the morning." She headed back to her bedroom and closed the door, leaving her house guests alone. Ed took off his coat and went behind the couch to see their sleeping arrangement was still there.  
"You coming to bed, Al?" Alphonse was still looking over Winry, readjusting the towel on her forehead.  
"Yeah, I'm coming." He turned off the light and carefully made his way over. After all the chaos of the day it didn't take them long to fall asleep. 


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning the city was covered with white, making it difficult for people to move about since the streets had been closed. Several military personal were outside shoveling pathways and putting salt on the road just so it was easier to get around. Winry woke up quietly as she stretched her arms over her head and let out a yawn. She was so warm it was becoming uncomfortable as she noticed the heavy blanket on top of her. Tossing it to the floor she sat up wondering why she was still wearing her clothes from last night. She remembered going out but the rest was a blur. She heard a noise behind her and turned around, glancing over the couch.

Alphonse and Edward were still asleep, laying at such an angle she wondered how they weren't kicking each other. It looked uncomfortable to her as she turned back around. When had they gotten back? Realizing her head was still in a fog she decided not to think too much into what all happened and stood up, heading to the window. Noticing the amount of snow outside, it made her relieved she wasn't out there. She watched as the roads were shoveled, making the snow banks on either side of the street huge. The progress was slow but they were managing.

Letting out another yawn she headed to the bathroom. Hearing the door shut, Alphonse woke up, surprised to see it was morning already. Straightening himself up, he stood up and first went to check on Winry, who wasn't where they left her the night before. Slightly worried he nudged his brother with his foot.  
"Ed, wake up. Winry's gone." Edward stretched for several minutes and scratched his head before finally getting up.  
"What's wrong?"  
"It's Winry, she's gone." This time Al sounded a little more concerned. Just as they started to really look for her she came out of the bathroom to the two of them poking around the couch.  
"What are you doing?" They both looked up somewhat relieved and also embarrassed that they never thought she might be in the bathroom.  
"We didn't know where you went," Alphonse replied.

Walking further into the living room she really noticed now how disheveled they looked and stifled a laugh. Ed's hair was a mess and Al who was normally more put together looked like a wreck. Once they realized she had noticed they tried to casually put themselves back together as Al tucked his shirt in all the way and Ed tried to pull all his hair out of his face.  
"So what happened last night?" She took a seat back on the couch.  
"We found you out on the street with a fever, that's what happened. What were you doing out there anyway," Ed told her still trying to look halfway decent. He forgot about the uniform and wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. Winry sat there for a second thinking about why she'd gone out and it hit her.  
"Oh yeah, I went to look for you but I think I somehow got turned around. Although I could have sworn I saw you."

Ed crossed his arms over his chest and let out a quick laugh. Al went into the kitchen to see what he could find for breakfast.  
"Considering we weren't out in the cold last night, I doubt that."  
"Yeah but you even called to me and waved. Then you disappeared around the corner before I could get to you." She still didn't sound very sure.  
"Why would I..." Ed paused thinking about what she had just said. There was only one other person who could impersonate him and it made his anger peak.  
"What is it, Brother?" Al could see he was getting mad from across the way.  
"It's Envy, it had to be him."  
"So you think he got out of the gate then?"  
"I don't know. Maybe."

Edward had told Alphonse all about the homunculi and especially Envy. Even though he knew it was a possability he still didn't want it to be true. "Today we have to get to the Records Office. We have to find out when Hakuro came back to Central." Al managed to find some muffins in the fridge and brought three over.  
"Do you think it's not really him?"  
"I'm starting too. I'm still not seeing a reason for him to be so against Alchemists but if it was Envy pretending to be him, then it makes perfect sense. It's not like the first time he's pulled that kind of scam I'm sure. And if I'm right, he was just waiting for us to come back."  
"Are you sure this isn't just from your dream?"

Ed was shocked Al would even bring that back up. And for some reason just the mention of it made him blush since Winry was sitting there.  
"No, who else would be able to impersonate me? Winry knows what she saw." She was getting fed up with them talking around her.  
"Okay so to the Records Office today then?" "You're not going," Ed said before taking a bite of his muffin. She almost fell off the couch before turning to him in a huff.  
"And why not? I can help, I did before." He finished his bite before answering her.  
" Because it could be dangerous especially if I'm right. And you need to be careful with who you trust right now too. We need to come up with a password or something."

Winry was not happy with his decision but at the same time she understood why he was being so cautious. It just bothered her that she wasn't allowed to help them.  
"Well how do I know you are you now when we make up the password?" Her tone was sarcastic and dry. He gave her an annoyed look.  
"Ha ha. Very Funny. How do I know you're Winry?" Alphonse let out a sigh as he knew this was going nowhere.  
"Anyway, a password is probably a good idea."

Before their conversation could go any further there was a knock on the door. After all the talk about not being able to trust just anyone, they were all hesitant to answer it. Finally after the third knock, Ed got to his feet and walked over. He glanced through the peep hole to see Roy on the other side.  
"Who is it?" Roy could hear Ed's muffled voice through the door and became annoyed.  
"Open the door before I blow it off the hinges." His threat seemed to be enough evidence for Ed so he opened the door.  
"Yeah it's definitely you but just to make sure." Ed brought his hand back in a fist and swung it forward. Mustang ducked and restrained himself from kicking Ed back into the apartment.  
"Whoa, what was that for? After all I did for you yesterday." Edward waved him in and shut the door.  
"Yup it's you alright." He groaned hoping it would be that easy to find Envy. He could just keep punching people through out the city until one of them changed.  
"What are you talking about all this 'it's you' stuff."

They walked into the living room where the other two were still sitting. Edward took his seat again and went back to his muffin. Alphonse took a minute to explain it to Mustang.  
"Great so every time I see him now, he's gonna try to punch me?"  
"Trust me that's the best way to know it's you," Ed spoke around the bite of food in his mouth. "Any time I punched Envy when he looked like you he would change back immediately. Plus he's more polite to me then you are." He swallowed and made a face.  
"This is ridiculous. So I already went to the Records Office this morning when they opened. I figured if you showed up the place would be covered in MP's immediately."

Mustang pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Ed. He explained what he found for Al's benefit as Ed read quietly.  
"Hakuro's entire escort disappeared in the North. No one knows what happened and he went missing for quite some time until he reappeared in Central only about a month ago. Up till then though, no one had heard anything about him and it was presumed he was dead."  
"So my theory would make sense. It could be Envy."  
"Another homunculus in power, that's just what this country needs. But how do you explain the attack on Central that happened over a year ago?" Ed shook his head as if that was the one part of this whole mess that didn't make sense.  
"And how come everyone is so determined that it was Brother that did it. If Envy wasn't here then, who else is impersonating you?"

There was a moment where everyone was quiet as though they were waiting for Edward to have the answer to the whole thing but after a minute or so of this, he placed his hands on either side of his head and made an annoyed sound.  
"Ah all this thinking is making my head hurt, I don't know who else doesn't like me. I'm sure there's a very lengthy list of people who would love to see me miserable." The other three let out a frustrated sigh in unison. Finding his resolve he stood up and dramatically stuffed the rest of his muffin in his mouth.  
"Al, we're gonna get to the bottom of this." He mumbled. Al hung his head in shame.  
"At least finish eating first."  
"We need to go back to that place. It's the only lead I can think of that might actually give us some answers." Mustang cut into his moment.  
"You are aware that you can't leave the city right?" He turned to him and gave a somewhat creepy smile.  
"We're not leaving the city." 


	16. Chapter 16

After a long explanation Mustang was up on where they were headed and agreed to come along. Ed took a quick shower and changed into a pair of dark pants and a black button down shirt. He would never underestimate how great hot water was. As much as he was dreading this trip, he at least felt clean. Sciezka came out in her bathrobe before they left and they told her they would be gone all day again as they got their coats on. By the time they left, most of the streets were cleared but the military personal was still at work trying to clean up any snow in the way.  
Alphonse watched as they worked relentlessly, determined to get the task finished. The snow banks on either side of the road went above their heads. They had to be at least seven feet high.  
"I don't get why they wouldn't use alchemy to clear the roads, it would take less time."  
"That's for sure." Ed agreed as they made their way to the middle of town. Glancing around he spotted a church and motioned for Al and Roy to follow him. He could feel a heavy feeling in his chest as he really was dreading this. They made it inside the empty building and headed towards the front. Edward found the door that headed down below the city. All three of them stared down at the darkness they were about to descend into.

"Are you sure about this?" Roy seemed uncertain that this was where they needed to go.  
"Yeah, but you won't like what you see. I doubt much has changed since we were there last." Alphonse became very quiet as they headed down the long staircase. He remembered coming up this way with Rose when Ed first went missing but as far as what happened down there before that it was still hard to know. The farther they went the more came to mind that seemed familiar. Once it became pitch black, Mustang lit a small flame so they could see where they were going.  
"Any idea how long this has been down here?" Ed shrugged as he watched his step.  
"I don't know but it's been here a long time." He didn't want to get into a long conversation about it. Mustang was smart, he could figure it out for himself.

They finally made it to the bottom stair and continued down a long path until they reached the underground city. Roy was speechless as he looked over the vast empty city while Ed just wanted to hang his head in remorse for what had happened here. "I can't believe this is here. It has to be just as large as Central," Roy mentioned as they didn't stop long and continued down into the abandon city. The farther they went the clearer Alphonse's memory of this place became and it made him sad. Not wanting to bother Edward with it, he kept it to himself.

Ed stopped, looking around for one particular building. It had been so long since he'd been there that it was easy to forget the small details like what it looked like. After taking a couple more steps he spotted it and headed in that direction. The door squealed loudly on it's hinges as he and Mustang forced it open. Ed looked around with an annoyed expression.  
"Why are the lights on?" They moved inside cautiously. Once inside Ed went one way as Mustang went in the opposite direction. They searched for any movement, any sign of someone's presence. The main room looked the same as it did the last time they were there. A transmutation circle took up most of the middle of the room and any other evidence of the fight was still there, as minimal as it was.

Alphonse wondered over to the circle in the center, looking down at it he remembered being here. He remembered being empty and being helpless. The thought made his head start to hurt. He moved back from the circle and turned on his heel only to stop short. There was a puddle of dried blood on the floor. A wave of memories hit him hard at the sight of it. This was where he watched his brother die. It was as though the scene was playing before him right now. He grabbed his stomach and tried to back away but couldn't take the feeling sweeping over him so quickly.  
Roy had made it up to one of the balconies as Ed was on the stairs when he noticed Alphonse leaning over, almost as though he was in pain.  
"Al?" He headed in that direction only to see Al cover his mouth as though he was going to be sick. "Al.." Ed made it over to him and placed a hand on his back. "Are you okay?" It took Alphonse a minute to answer, still trying not to be ill. Edward pulled him farther away from the blood on the floor. Taking in several breaths he managed to speak but was unable to look up at his brother.  
"This is where you...where.." Ed shook his head letting him know he didn't have to complete his statement. He knew what he was getting at.  
"I know. Are you going to be alright?"

Before Al could say anything else there was the sound of someone clapping. Edward looked around, trying to see where it was coming from but it echoed all around him. "So you figured out where I was hiding. I've gotta give you credit." He immediately recognized Envy's voice and grit his teeth.  
"Where are you? I'm getting sick of your games." Mustang stayed up in the balcony, trying to stay hidden. Envy jumped down from the one staircase, making his way leisurely towards the Elric brothers. Edward moved in front of Alphonse which seemed to make Al even more upset.  
Envy was enjoying himself as he eyed them like helpless prey that had been cornered. His malicious grin irritated Ed and he was more then willing to fight him again here if necessary.  
"You're getting sloppy, Envy. This whole thing wreaked of you. It's the same old tricks." Envy smiled even more and let out a laugh.  
"Not all of it was me. I had help, after all I couldn't bring myself back from the gate now could I?" This was not the time to fight, as much as Edward wanted to beat the smirk off Envy's face. He tried to back away with Al still behind him. "Oh come on now, don't tell me you don't want to play. I was looking forward to it, now that I have the advantage."  
"What makes you think that?"

Envy moved quicker then Ed expected and was now inches away from his face. He grabbed his right arm and waved it back and forth.  
"Not to much Fullmetal anymore are you?" Ed yanked his wrist out of Envy's grasp and tried to kick him only for him to move back enough for him to miss. It was all the same to him though, he just wanted Envy out of his face.  
"I don't need it, I can still beat you."  
"Yeah, like you did last time or how about when you kept running away from me in the gate. You sure did teach me a lesson then, didn't you?" Edward was beginning to get steamed but still tried to keep it together. He had to think about Al's well being right now. He wasn't really use to him being a liability.

Alphonse was trying to pull himself together however Envy showing up was not helping him. He knew though if he didn't come to his senses then it wouldn't help the situation. Just as he managed to straighten up a bit, something cold came around his throat, pulling him away from his brother. He let out a startled yell, getting Ed to turn back to him.  
"Are you kidding me?" He wasn't expecting Wrath to be there too, let alone holding Al back by his metal arm. Ed's voice became low and threatening with anger as he watched Al grab at the steal around his neck. "After all she did for you, this is how you repay us? What is wrong with you?"

Wrath glared all the more in his direction, not letting up on Al at all. As much as Alphonse was not his preferred target, he was in the way all the same. With his real hand he pointed accusingly at Edward.  
"You got everything back, it's not fair. After you destroyed everything that I cared about, now you get all you wanted back. I won't let that happen," Wrath screamed at him.  
"So you're the one who let Envy out? Don't you remember what he did to you?" Wrath smirked back at Ed's question.  
"And yet we have so much in common, like wanted to get back at you." By now, Al's temper was coming out as he landed his elbow in Wrath's stomach, getting him to release his hold on his neck. Knowing Al could handle Wrath, Edward turned his attention back to Envy.

Glancing up in the balcony, he couldn't help but wonder what had become of Mustang. If he joined the fight, they would have the advantage. Unfortunately several minutes ago, just as he was about to intervene, something hard hit him from behind, knocking him to the floor. Before he could even comprehend what had happen a dark figure walked over and yanked his glove off his hand and tossed it away, a malicious smile spread across their lips.  
"I think we should let this be an even fight for now." A familiar voice stated but Mustang was unable to respond as the individual kicked him in the head, knocking him out for good. 


	17. Chapter 17

Envy charged at his target, leaping into the air and coming down with his heel. Edward moved out of the way at the last second, which cause Envy to slam into the floor instead. Ed moved quickly, clapping his hands together and placing his palms on the ground. Where Envy had landed, the floor around his foot began to pull him down until it had his entire leg trapped. Letting out an annoyed groan Envy tried to pull himself out only to find it was impossible. As he turned to look up, his face made contact with something solid. Another part of the floor had come up, knocking him squarely in the jaw. Ed couldn't help but grin at his accomplishment so far. His attention moved to Wrath and Al as Alphonse brought up a wall just as Wrath came for him, his arm now fashioned as a blade. He ran into the wall head on and stopped to rub his forehead. Al came around the other side and tried to punch him only for him to jump away, avoiding his fist.

Envy let out another frustrated growl as he yanked with all his might, breaking the floor, sending pieces flying. Ed moved out of the way of a large chunk of concrete almost hit him. Before he could get back up, Envy swung this time making contact with Ed's face. His hit had so much force behind it, that Ed was knocked to the ground. Rubbing his cheek he got back up quickly.  
"So you want this to be a pounding each other in the face fight, I can do that." Ed ran at Envy and jumped up, bringing his feet around Envy's head. As he tried to pry Ed off him, Edward brought his weight backwards, sending Envy into the ground face first. "And where the hell is Mustang?" He looked around again trying to figure out where he went.

Alphonse let out a yell as Wrath knocked him off his feet. Sitting up he found himself near the transmutation circle in the middle of the room. Waiting for Wrath to come close enough he placed his hand on the edge of the circle and sent several spikes in his direction. Suddenly before he could take his hand away from the circle, Alphonse vanished. Ed saw him disappear out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head in that direction. His face revealed his complete horror as he hurried over to the circle.  
"Al? Al!" As fear started to take over and a knot formed in his stomach, a quiet laughter from behind brought back his anger. Envy stood up, dusting his hair off, his laughter became louder and more obnoxious as he enjoyed Ed's predicament.  
"Oh did we forget to tell you that circle goes directly to the gate. Guess that would have helped before he decided to use it, huh."

Ed stomped his way over to the homunculus who was still chuckling and grabbed the front of his shirt. He was beyond angry, as he forced the tears that had formed in his eyes back.  
"You think this is funny?" His tone was demanding as he brought his fist forward into Envy's stomach. "I'll send both of you back there right now and get him back." Before Envy could regain his composure Edward was pulling him towards the circle. Wrath went to stop him as well but Ed nailed him with his elbow, knocking him back. Just as he made it to the circle, Alphonse reappeared. Relief swept over Ed as he let go of Envy and hurried over to Al.  
"What happened? Where'd you go?" Al glanced over at his older brother, rubbing his forehead.  
"How long was I gone? I'm not too sure where I was."

Before their conversation could go any further Envy got back up with a growl getting their attention again.  
"I'm getting sick of this." He grabbed Ed by the back of his shirt and threw him across the floor. Now that Ed was out of the way, he went after Alphonse, kicking him in the back. Just as Edward went to stand up he saw Alphonse clap his hands together and send Envy flying into a wall across the room. Ed stared in shock as did Al at the fact that he didn't need a transmutation circle. Wrath stood up and backed away, not wanting to get injured as well. Envy hadn't gotten up. "How'd I do that?" Al stared down at his hands still confused at what he had just done. Edward got back on his feet and double checked that Envy was out.

After kicking at his foot a couple of times, he confirmed he was out cold. Al went over as well still feeling confused about what had just happened.  
"The only way you don't need a circle is if you went to the Gate." "So that's where I was, it was kind of confusing. What do you want to do with him?" Al looked down at Envy. Edward shrugged at the question still trying to figure out what his next move was. He could get rid of Envy right now and then go drag Wrath back as well, but then he would never find out the whole story. Letting out a sigh, he clapped his hands together causing blue sparks to fly. Once the light faded away, Envy was chained to the floor.

Above in the balcony, Roy stumbled to his feet holding his head. Leaning on the railing, he looked down to see the fight had ended and the Elrics were standing over one of the homunculus. As quickly as he could, he headed down to Edward's third degree.  
"Where'd you go? I swear sometimes you're useless." Mustang hung his head at the thought but quickly came back to argue.  
"I got knocked out by one of them." Roy nudged Envy with his foot as well to make his point and to make sure he wasn't getting up any time soon. "Was it before the fight?"  
"Actually here's what's crazy about it," Mustang started to say but stopped as the third Homunculus jumped down from the balcony. Once landing, he stood up causing both Ed and Al's jaws to drop. "That's what I'm talking about."

Despite the typical dark hair that hung in his face and deep crimson eyes there was no mistaking who this homunculus was based on. He grinned at the Elrics, particularly Edward as he looked just like him.  
"So I finally get to meet you." He practically stared Ed down as his voice sounded identical to his. The idea of a homunculi based off of him, caused Ed's stomach to turn. A thousand questions flew through his head, like who created this one and why. As he tried to figure it out the homunculi came closer, still looking him over his grinned widened. "You seem taller then I expected but I'm pretty sure I'm still taller then you."

Knowing that would get Edward's blood boiling, the homunculus stayed where he was as Ed ran at him in a fit of rage, spouted angry threats like he was mad. As Ed's leg came up to hit him in the head, the homunculus ducked quickly and reached up, taking hold of Ed's ankle. With ease, he swung him around and released him, sending him flying into a wall. Letting out a cough Ed struggled to get up. As he looked up he saw his twin coming towards him but stopped as a blue light encircled him.

Alphonse had his hands to the floor as it surrounded the only remaining homunculus standing several feet away. Once he was entrapped, Al hurried over to Ed and helped him up. "What do you want to do?" He asked his brother. Ed shook his head, unsure of what his next move would be. There was a loud crash behind them as the homunculus broke through one of the walls. "You think this can hold me?" He called angrily. Mustang walked over to the Elrics and on the way, pulled out a book of matches. Just as the homunculus broke through another wall, a blaze of flames came at him.  
"We need to get out of here. Come on."

He headed for the entrance assuming the Elric's were behind him. They made it out the door and hurried up through the city and up the stairs. Once they were back in the church, they paused to catch their breath. Alphonse turned to look back and stared at the doorway in shock. Mustang looked around too, coming to the same thought Al had.  
"Where's your brother?" He let out a huff, irritated that he had to ask. 


	18. Chapter 18

Alphonse frantically searched for his brother down the dark hallway. How had they not noticed he wasn't behind them. After concluding he wasn't there he turned to Roy.  
"We have to go back and get him, he can't fight all three of them off." The General ran a hand through his bangs and let out another frustrated sigh.  
"That idiot, what was he thinking staying behind like that." Just as they were about to descend the long staircase they heard someone walking up.  
"Brother?" There was no answer which made them both uneasy. Finally the person came into view and Al let out the breath he was holding. "Why didn't you answer me? What happen?"  
"You both ran so far ahead, I could barely catch up." He glared in Roy's direction. "After all I just fought three homunculus."  
"You're such a glory hog. I'm not explaining myself again."

Ed took in a deep breath, leaning against the wall. He didn't realize how much the fight had worn him out. Rubbing his sore jaw he straightened up and got his thoughts together.  
"Let get going. That didn't help us at all." He started for the door.  
"At least we know whose behind all the crazy laws against alchemy. And that Envy was posing as Hakuro this whole time," Alphonse reminded him. Edward waved his hand in the air as they got outside.  
"I wouldn't worry about that anymore, we really trashed him." He grinned to himself.  
"I don't think it was enough to stop him permanently though," Mustang added.

There was a sound from inside the church that caught Ed's attention. He glanced back in and silently listened. Al went to ask him what he heard but he motioned for him to stay quiet.  
"I'll be right back." He slipped back into the building by himself, taking a look around. Wrath walked out of the shadows and made eye contact with Ed.  
"Why'd you follow us?"  
"I wasn't sure you wanted me to follow or not."  
"Go back and help the new Greed out with Fullmetal. I'll keep them preoccupied up here, okay. It's not that complex of a plan." With that he headed back outside.

Al and Roy stood outside waiting for him to return. As he came out they both glanced in his direction waiting for him to tell them what happen.  
"It was nothing, the place probably has rats or something." He stretched his hands behind his back and let out a yawn. "Lets go eat, I'm starving after all the fighting." They shrugged back and headed down the street.  
"But I'm not paying again. Use your own money," Roy grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

~~~~ It had been hours since the Elrics had left, as Winry sat next to the window in Sciezka's apartment with a book in her lap. She had grown bored of it and found herself staring out the window. Her mind had wondered from thought to thought and finally landed on the time and how long they had been gone. Sciezka had left awhile ago for work and now Winry was even considering going out into town, even in the cold weather. She just hadn't gotten up and determined she was going.

After sitting there for awhile longer, she heard a knock at the door. Pushing herself up, she headed for the door and looked to see who it was. Quickly she unlocked the door and swung it open, letting her two friends in, concern written all over her face.  
"What happen to you two?" She noticed how beat up they looked. Tiredly they trudged in and closed the door behind them.  
"We found out a lot of information but at the same time, we just have more questions," Alphonse told her as he pulled off his coat. Ed headed over to the couch and collapsed onto it. Al quietly slipped into the bathroom to clean up some while Winry made her way over to Edward.  
"Are you gonna be okay?" She sat down next to him.

His amber eyes wondered over to her and it made her feel awkward. She couldn't understand why but something about how he looked at her didn't seem right.  
"I'll feel better once we're aloud to leave." He placed a hand on her knee, causing her to stand up quickly. "W..why don't I get you some ice. You've got a bump on your forehead." She tried hard not to stutter but his actions were weird.  
"I was just trying to be nice. You don't have to freak out so much." She opened the freezer and let out a sigh.  
"Sorry, there's just been so much going on." She nodded quietly as she pulled out some ice and placed it in a bag. Walking back over she still felt a chill run down her back as he watched her take her seat next to him again. Even though he really didn't need to ice, he took it anyway.

Just as Envy was thinking of having some fun that he could bother Ed with later, Al walked out of the bathroom, looking a bit more together now. Winry glance up at him to see if he was hurt at all.  
"Al are you alright? You didn't get hurt did you?"  
"I'm okay,Winry. Just a little tired." He didn't want to bother her with any details about his trip to the gate and the slight headache he was getting from his experience there. Of course he couldn't help but wonder why his brother hadn't asked him about it at lunch. He also noticed Ed was sitting oddly close to Winry.  
"So Ed, what do you want to do about the homunculi?" Edward leaned back and let out a long sigh.  
"I'm not too sure, the idea of one of them looking like me has me wondering who made him. Maybe we're just in over our heads and need to forget about them."

Al couldn't believe his brother would say anything like that. Usually he wanted to find out more and if he had to beat it out of someone that never stopped him. The idea of him giving up without much of a fight seemed out of character.  
"But if we leave them alone, Envy will continue impersonating General Hakuro and basically have all the power he wants. It's just as bad as when the Furer was in control." Ed smirked at Al's explanation.  
"Yeah, but lets face it, three homunculus couldn't do that much damage. Eventually the people here will get sick of the stupid rules and overthrow him. Someone else will come along and that's how things usually go. As long as there's no one else like Dante pulling the strings."

Alphonse stood in front of Winry and Ed in shock at his brother's attitude towards the situation. He knew how bad Envy could make things for everyone. Plus they weren't even aloud to leave Central. After thinking about it more, Al found his resolve and headed for the door.  
"Where are you going," Winry asked him as he grabbed his coat again.  
"I'm going to go look for answers. We're stuck here anyway, we might as well try to help the situation." Ed yawned loudly before responding.  
"If that's what you want to do, let me know how it goes." His lazy reply irritated Winry as Alphonse headed out, closing the door behind him.  
She turned her attention to him, an unpleasant look on her face. If she had known he was going to act like this she would probably have left with Al. He sat there with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Finally he could feel her glaring at him and opened one eye.  
"What?" "What do you think? When did you stop caring?" He decided to sit up some and brought his hands down.  
"It's not that I don't care, it's just that I want things to be simpler. I want life to be normal with no more going to prison for crap I didn't do and no more chasing homunculus." His words sounded sincere as his face was really close to hers.  
"Yeah but what about everyone else? You used to care about them too."  
"I'm not in the military anymore, let it be their problem. I've been putting people that I don't even know before my family and myself for so long maybe it's time for me to be happy."

As much as Winry wanted to agree with him she had always admired the fact that he cared so much for the people he helped. And as much as he did tend to throw himself into dangerous situations she didn't expect that to change any time soon. She looked away from him, trying to think of what to say.  
"I want you to be happy but I don't think it should be at the expense of anyone else." Before she knew what was happening, she felt Ed's hand turn her face back towards him. He leaned in closer before answering her. "I want to be happy with you." His tone came out low, almost in a whisper as his lips brushed hers. Winry stared in shock as Ed kissed her, pressing his mouth even more against hers. 


	19. Chapter 19

As much as Winry was caught off guard, she found herself kissing him back and closing her eyes. The whole thing felt so surreal to her as she felt Ed's hands come around her waist. Snapping back to reality she pulled away, feeling that there was something wrong. Edward stared at her as though he was trying to figure out what made her stop. Bringing her hair behind her ear, she leaned over to grab her boots.  
"What's wrong?" He straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"Sorry, I just remember I needed to ask Alphonse something. Whenever we do actually get back to Resembol I was going to visit my mom's grave." She glanced back at him, waiting for him to say something. He just shrugged, waiting for her to continue. "Anyway I wanted to know if he wanted to visit you mom's grave as well. Guess I forgot to ask him."

She leaned down and pulled her boots on. As she stood, she noticed he got up as well and followed her to the door. Not sure what he wanted she pulled her coat on and turned back to him.  
"I shouldn't be that long, I just want to catch up to him before he gets too far. I should be back before dinner though." She opened the door, hoping he would buy her story and let her leave.  
"Wait a second," he said moving closer to her. She froze at the door, unsure what he wanted. He leaned into her face again, kissing her before she left. Grudgingly she kissed back so that he didn't suspect anything. As she pulled back he smiled at her. "I guess I'll see you later."

With that he let her leave and she headed down the hallway. Once she got around the corner she took off running, hoping that she could find Alphonse as soon as possible. Maybe he went to the dorms where Mustang and Hawkeye were staying. Since that was one of the few places she knew how to get to, she headed in that direction. She placed her hands in her pockets to find her wrench in the one.  
"Well at least if anyone wants to mess with me, I'm armed." She realized she was talking to herself but didn't care. By this point none of the details mattered, she just had to find Al and let him know that Ed was not himself.

~~~~ Once Winry left, Envy slumped his shoulders and headed over to the sofa transforming back into his normal form. He collapsed onto the soft cushions below.  
"Took long enough for her to leave," he muttered to himself, cracking his neck. He figured she knew something was wrong with him but he was positive she wasn't sure. "Now what else can I mess with?" After careful thought he grinned to himself and got up. Changing again, he left the apartment. Once he made it outside and checked to see which way Winry went. Once he saw her turn a corner he headed in the opposite direction.

He ended up back at the church from earlier that morning and walked inside to find Wrath. He was sitting on the old pulpit, looking bored.  
"So how's it going?" Envy closed the large door behind him. Wrath gave him a look.  
"Why do you look like that?" Envy grinned back and leaned against the doorway.  
"Oh this, I just keep thinking of ways to mess with them even more. By the way how's Greed handling everything? He hasn't done anything unplanned has he?"  
"Not that I know of, but he hit Elric pretty hard, I don't know if he's even awake." Wrath jumped down, landing on both feet. Envy followed him, going to where theyre captive was.

~~~~ Edward could feel his heartbeat pounding in his head. As he leaned his head back, it made the pain worse and he felt nauseous. Being his head forward again, he squinted at what he could make out as his surroundings. The room was dim with two chairs and a table across from him but that was all he could see. It seemed he was on the ground against a wall. Trying to move his arms, he realized they were both tied on either side of his head, making it impossible to use alchemy. He let out a frustrated growl, annoyed that he was stuck in this predicament. He felt like this whole time in Central he was either in a hospital or being held against his will.

Someone walked into his view and leaned down to his face. He never felt more sick seeing his own face looking back at him.  
"Enjoying your stay? Can we get you anything?" The sarcasm was dripping from every word. Taking in a deep breath, Ed tried to kick up at the homunculus in his face. He moved away avoiding the captives foot. "That wasn't very nice." Ed let out a soft laugh.  
"I'm sorry, if you'll untie my hands, I'll make sure I hurt you in a nicer way." Ed managed to glare up through his bangs, making sure his tone was understood.  
"Sheesh, I'm based on you. I'm not nearly that impulsive. No wonder you were so easy to predict, you're crazy."

Ed let out an annoyed sigh, trying to figure out what he could do. Of course this was the perfect opportunity to find out more about how this homunculus came into existence.  
"So who created you?"  
"Oh now you want to talk about me. Well I do like talking about myself. Obviously Dante created me." Ed wasn't sure why he hadn't figured that out sooner. Dante did have some mental problem and was disillusioned into thinking Edward was anything like his dad.  
"Then what do they call you?"  
"Dante named me the new Greed. If you think about it, that does make sense since you're so greedy."  
"Hey, I am not. You don't even know me."

Greed came dangerously close to Ed's face, poking him in the side of the head hard where he had hit him earlier. Ed tried to move away but couldn't.  
"Everything in there is in my head too. You're really screwed up. I don't know what she saw in you."  
"Maybe she was screwed up too, ever think of that?" Greed's solid fist made contact with Ed's face. He opened his mouth and moved his lower jaw around to make sure it was still attached. Making a mental note not to say anything bad about Dante, he went back to glaring at Greed. "So how come you're able to exist when I'm alive?"  
"Because you died before, that's why. Aren't you suppose to be smart? Here's another tip, you can't kill me like the others unless you die first. I'm not as weak as the last Greed."

Edward was getting tired of this conversation even if the information was helpful. He wanted to know the point of all of this.  
"Could you just tell me what this is all about. Why the huge charade and everything. What do you gain from all of this?" Greed moved away, crossing his arms still grinning.  
"Why all this? Cause you couldn't even come up with something so devious. And in the mean time Envy is now pretending to be you doing who knows what." Just as Ed was going to respond, the door opened to the room and Wrath stood in the doorway.  
"Guess who I found snooping around outside." He yanked Winry into view. She was tied up and blind folded. 


	20. Chapter 20

Author's notes-Cause every time you review, you make an Author smile.

Ed's mouth opened but no words came out. Winry was trembling and he couldn't tell if she was angry or scared. Pulling at his restraints, he realized all the blood had drained from his arms. His fingers felt numb as he went to move them.  
"You little creep, after all I did for you," she yelled at Wrath. Her voice came out weak, showing she really was scared. Greed walked over and lightly touched her face, making her pull away.  
"Winry, it's going to be okay, I promise." He spoke in a soft tone.  
"Ed, where are we?" She moved forward, as though hoping he would comfort her more.  
"Don't worry, I'll protect you. Nothing's gonna happen to you." Greed made sure Ed was watching as he brought his hands around her shoulders.

Ed's anger was starting to peak as he watched helplessly. Greed kept touching her and for some reason it made him feel a rage like nothing else. Finally when Greed's mouth came dangerously close to Winry's, he couldn't hold back any longer.  
"Winry, it's not me! He's a homunculus." She tried to pull away but by that point Greed grabbed her and held her closer.  
"But he sounds just like you, Ed." Greed was now holding her by her waist.  
"Why are you so mad, Fullmetal? Cause I'm doing something you wished you could do?" He forced his lips on Winry's, startling her and causing Ed to shout at him.  
"Leave her alone!" All his effort was in vain.

Finally when Greed grew tired of Winry he moved away and shoved her into the room with Ed. He wiped his mouth in disgust. "Humans taste so nasty. The things I do for entertainment." With that the two homunculi closed the door, leaving Ed and Winry alone. She was crying now, still confused with what was going on.  
"Are you okay," he finally spoke up, still ashamed he wasn't able to help her. At first she didn't say anything as she slowly kneeled on the floor. "Winry?" He continued to watch her getting comfortable and she finally shouted at him.  
"Why didn't you say anything sooner? You let me think he was you." Her emotions broke through her words, but she still managed to get it all out.  
"I'm sorry, I just thought if I said anything, he'd hurt you."

As much as he wanted to know what the heck she was doing wondering around the enterance but he figured this would not be a good time to ask. She was still shivering as she was wearing a short skirt. He wasn't sure why she would wear something like that when it was so cold outside.  
"Winry, you're freezing. Come over here before you get sick again."  
"I don't need you're help." He let out a huff, trying not to get frustrated with her.  
"Please, I'm sorry. I don't want you getting another fever."

Grudgingly she brought her hands up and pulled her blindfold away from her face. Standing up, she made her way over to him. She sat down on his lap sideways and leaned against him. He was warmer then her at least although she couldn't help but notice he was blushing and wouldn't make eye contact.  
"Are we going to die?" Her question caught him off guard. He wished his arms were free so he could assure her he would protect her.  
"We're not going to die, I wouldn't let that happen." He wanted to move back as her face was so close to his, but was unable to.  
"What's going to happen to us?"  
"I don't know."  
"And how come he sounded like you?"

Ed let out a sigh and shook his head. It was a conversation he didn't want to have with her and had been avoiding up to the this point. But there was no avoiding it now.  
"When I got Al's body back, I..uh kinda died." Winry stared into his eyes in shock causing him to look away from her. He couldn't handle the sad look she was giving him. "It wasn't very long but Al had to pull me back from the gate. I know I should have told you sooner, but I just didn't want to concern you with the details." She pulled back, still sitting on him as angry tears slid down her face.  
"I think that is a huge detail not to tell me."  
"I know, I'm sorry. Anyway, that apparently is how he was created. He's just like me." Winry stood up and turned away from him. He saw her shoulders begin to shake as she started crying. "Please don't do that. Winry, I should have told you. I'm really sorry."

There was nothing he hated more then making her cry and he hated to see her upset like this. There was nothing he could do now, the damage had been done as she stood with her back to him. He looked down at the floor, not knowing what else to say. After a couple of minutes he thought he heard her giggle quietly.  
"Winry?" She had his undivided attention as she finally turned back, now laughing even more. He wondered if she had lost her mind and then became on edge.  
"Wow, and here I thought you could always tell when it was me." Envy transformed back into his normal form. Edward lunged forward as far as he could reach.  
"You bastard! How dare you." Envy let out a yawn as though he was unimpressed by Ed's temper.  
"Yeah yeah big deal, how dare me." He moved quickly, kneeing Ed in the stomach, causing his anger to sizzle into an agonizing pain in his abdomen and back. "That was for earlier."

Ed let out a cough before responding. He always had to have the last word even in a situation like this. He glared back up at the homunculus before him.  
"What, you have to tie me up just so you can get a cheap shot in?" Envy brought his face closer to Ed's, bringing his mouth closer to his ear. "Yeah well you want to know what's so great about all this, other then that's probably how she'll react if you ever gets the guts to tell her. When I was pretending to be you, she certainly had no problem being open with me." Ed's amber eyes narrowed as his anger returned.  
"What did you do to her?"

His voice came out in a low threatening tone. Winry was one thing, probably the only thing that Envy had'nt screwed with and he wasn't going to let him start now. "Do you have a problem with me playing with her?" He stood back up, making sure to get a full view of Ed's face. "I will say, she is pretty hot. I don't know what's wrong with you."  
"Maybe I have to worry about beating the crap out of you all the time." Envy smirked at his response.  
"Yeah right, if she really was important to you, nothing would stop you from being with her. All you humans with your stupid emotions. At least I can say I got more out of her in five minutes then you ever did in how ever many pointless years you've known her."

Envy was obviously being vaugue on purpose, knowing it would drive his captive even more insane trying to figure it out.  
"If you hurt her, I swear you'll regret it." Envy stretched his arms over his head as though Ed's threat meant nothing to him.  
"Sure, sure, you'll make me pay and all that. Believe me you don't have to worry with me 'hurting' her." Ed grit his teeth in agony at the thought of Envy doing anything to Winry. "Well this is fun and all, but I could be having much more fun elsewhere." He motioned with his hand. Ed leveled him with a glare which just made Envy enjoy himself all the more. "Oh yeah but before I go." He swung his arm forward, hitting Ed again in the face, making his cheek burn. "Just wanted to get the last one in." With that he left the room, feeling some sort of accomplishment.

~~~~ Alphonse found Mustang and Hawkeye in the dorms. Hawkeye sat on one of the couches, listening to him as he told her everything they found in the city below while Mustang was on the phone.  
"So what are you going to do about the homunculus. It sounds like it would be difficult to kill them." Al nodded in agreement about their task not being easy.  
"I wish my brother would help out, when we got back it seemed like he gave up. I don't know what's wrong with him."  
"Well did you think that maybe he was just frustrated about everything. He could have just needed some time."  
"I don't know, I guess."

Mustang hung up the receiver loudly finishing his conversation and overhearing some of theirs. And as always he had to put in his two cents.  
"Gee Fullmetal being moody, yeah never would have seen that coming. At least he got to fight, I just got knocked out. I have more of a reason to be annoyed."  
"Who was on the phone," Hawkeye inquired. Mustang rubbed his temples, not really wanting to talk about his phone call.  
"Hakuro has been missing for awhile and they are starting to get concerned for his well-being. Now they're concerned. He's probably missing because he's not human."

The de ja vue of being the only person accusing the leader of the military being a homunculus was wearing on him. There was a light knock on the door and Hawkeye got up to answer it. Winry followed her in. She seemed worried to Alphonse and he hurried over to her.  
"Are you alright?" She shook her head and he led her over to the couch.  
"What happened?"  
"It's your brother, it's not him." Al was still surprised even though he hadn't been sure of it, the fact made his actions earlier make sense. Ed would never give up, even when things were impossible.  
"Who was that then? Envy?" Winry nodded back feeling relief that she had gotten away.  
"I mentioned my mom, just like Ed told me to do but he didn't respond the way he was suppose to."

Alphonse remembered his brother's idea that if any of them thought the person they were with wasn't who they claimed to be, they would say something about their mom and the other person would say the mother's name. Apparently it had worked since Winry knew that wasn't Edward.  
"But if that wasn't him, then where is he," Mustang interjected, walking over to them.  
"The last time we saw him and Envy was down below. Does that mean he's still down there?" Al rose to his feet, concern written all over his face. Who knew what the other homunculi would do to him. "We have to go back there. We have to get him." Mustang waved his hand back and forth trying to get Al to calm down.  
"We'll go check it out. I doubt they put you both through all this, just to kill him. We'll leave whenever you want."

Winry stood as well with a determine look on her face. Mustang had a feeling he knew what she was going to say.  
"I'm going too. I'm not going to just sit here and wait for you to return." Mustang normally would argue that she didn't need to come but knew there was no point in it. He nodded in agreement.  
"I want' to leave now. This can't wait." Al was already on his way to the door. The other three followed him, Hawkeye double checking her ammo before closing the door. 


	21. Chapter 21

Mustang led the way as the four of them carefully made their way down the dark staircase. Somehow Winry was at the end of the line, staying close to Al in front of her. It was hard to see much around them in the dim light and she clung to the back of his shirt. A spiderweb on the wall brushed her leg, causing her to let out a shriek and pull on Al even more.  
"Something's touching me!" Her voice came out in a high pitched tone. Alphonse tried to get her to calm down.  
"Winry, it's okay but if you keep freaking out, you're going to knock me down the stairs."  
"Sorry," she whispered trying to release him but her hands didn't seem to want to let go. They finally made it to the bottom and she could hear the sound of water flowing. "Where are we?" She looked around as they made it into the city. None of the others wanted to explain it to her.  
"Do you think they're still in the same place," Mustang glanced back at Al.  
"I don't know but we might as well start there."

They moved down in between the buildings heading towards the building with the huge double doors in the front. Mustang tried the handle only to realize it was locked. "I can shoot the lock." Hawkeye volunteered. "Wouldn't that make it all the more obvious we're here," Al brought up to Roy.  
"What would you suggest?" Winry pushed past Alphonse holding several small metal items between her fingers. "I can help with this." She smiled, happy that she could actually be helpful. After several minutes the doors was unlocked and they pushed them open. The main room was dark and there was no sign that any one had been there since the fight from earlier. "Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way," Roy suggested as he looked around.

Winry and Alphonse carefully made their way up the balcony and found several doors down a hallway. It was hard to see in the darkness.  
"I guess we have to try each of these rooms." Al mentioned, turning back to Winry. Off at the end of the hallway, she caught sight of someone moving towards them. Al turned back to see the same shadow.  
"We figured you'd come back here." Al and Winry immediately recognized Wrath's voice.  
"Where's my bro..," Alphonse started to say but was cut off as Winry rushed past him at Wrath, her wrench in hand. With one fast movement, she had knocked him over the head and had him on the ground.  
"You little punk, I gave you automail cause I felt bad for you and you go around causing all these problems. I didn't even charge you, and that's a lot for me." She was practically yelling and it was actually making him feel bad.

Alphonse held back a laugh and started checking each of the rooms as Winry kept Wrath from interfering.  
After he searched the last room, he came out feeling more frustrated as he didn't find Ed. Winry made eye contact with him and he shook his head.  
"Where is he? You'd better tell us or I'm taking my automail back. By force."

~~~~ Hawkeye and Mustang moved behind the one stairway into another darkened hallway. Behind the main room there were several hallways connected to each other like a maze. The further they went the more they felt like they were getting lost.  
"Is there any end to this thing?" Roy was becoming irritated. Riza could hear someone behind them and turned around, watching their back side. Just as Roy turned back to see who was coming, he could hear someone else walking towards them from the front.

Lighting a small flame, they could see Ed coming from behind, while from the front stood the homunculus identical to Ed.  
"Well this is an interesting situation." Riza glanced over her shoulder at Roy, still keeping her gun aimed at Edward. In one quick movement, she brought her gun up, turning the opposite way, while Roy turned as well now aiming his flame at Ed. "Nothing personal," he stated causing a huge fireball as Riza fired several shots in the other direction. Her bullets bounced off Greed, ricocheting off the walls around them. She pulled Roy down as one of her own bullets just whistled through the air past her.

As the heat from behind them died down they stood back up, cautiously. Envy must have ducked out of dodge when he saw the flames heading in his direction. Meanwhile, Greed remained standing before the General and his second in command, unmoved.  
"What do you suggest, sir?"  
"Well who said this one was fireproof?" He snapped his fingers again, sending an even larger wave of flames. Greed brought his arms in front of his face and waited till the fire was gone before bringing his arms down. "Are you finished yet? So useless." Roy dropped his head in disbelief that this homunculus knew what to say to him. Riza pushed past the stunned General and continued to fire as Greed came closer, each bullet bouncing off him and ending up in the walls around them. As her gun finally clicked empty, he grinned standing still.  
"Go ahead, I can wait for you to reload." Gritting her teeth she waited to see if he'd make a move. "No, you got nothing, well then let me try."

He moved at an inhuman speed at her, placing a claw around her neck. Lifting her off the ground, she pulled at his grip, unable to loosen it. Mustang was trying to figure a way out of this before he injured her. Finally the solution hit him and he got to his feet.  
"Wow, that's impressive that someone so short could pick her up. That's great." Riza was still having trouble when she squinted over, giving him a confused look. The homunculus turned his attention to him as well but didn't let her go.  
"What did you say?" His tone was low and his anger evident.  
"Oh well you know, to be able to pick her up like that over your head. It's gotta take a lot of strength especially with how tiny you are."

Greed's mouth twitched as it was the first time he was hearing this, but it bothered him all the same. He lowered his arm some, allowing Hawkeye to take in a breath of fresh air.  
"What do you mean 'tiny'? I'm not tiny." "Well you're not as tall as me either. It's okay though, your based off of someone who is also tiny." Rage started to fuel him as Greed released the lieutenant and stomped over to Mustang.  
"You've got maybe an inch on me, so what?" Roy grinned and patted him on the head, making him even angrier.  
"It's not so bad for you. You'll get to my level one day."

Even though, Ed had grown quite a bit since he had last seen him several years ago, he still wasn't at the same height as him. Greed let out a low growl even if he wasn't sure why the observation bothered him so much. Just as he was about to loose it, Envy came back around the corner.  
"Forget about that, we've got more important things to do. That idiot Wrath already failed." Greed regained his composure and pushed past Mustang, following Envy back into the main room. Roy helped Riza up and they hurried after the two homunculi. As they made it out to the main room, Mustang noticed Greed slowing even to the point that he stumbled on his feet.

Above their heads Winry and Alphonse were hurrying down the stairs. As they reached the floor, Greed quickly straightened up, trying not to show any weakness.  
"He's not here," Al announced to Mustang and Hawkeye. They could only figure Wrath had ran away. Envy grit his teeth as he had lost his leverage.  
"I'm gonna strangle that coward. This is the second time he's screwed up." "As much as we really want to feel sorry for you, that's just not gonna happen." Mustang frowned and scratched his forehead, growing weary from entire situation.  
"Well then where the hell is Fullmetal?" His tone revealing his frustration as he tried to keep it together. As he waited for their answer, they seemed unable to come up with one. "You didn't get that far did you?"  
"Wrath said he wasn't in this building, but we didn't get much farther then that when we heard the explosion down here," Alphonse explained quietly, not quite understanding himself, why they had let Wrath go.

This new evidence had redeemed Wrath a little as Envy smiled quietly to himself. He was right back where he wanted to be, with all the power. "Alright, where are you keeping him. I really doubt you want his company that badly." Roy turned back to Greed and Envy. Greed casually whiped the sweat off of his brow, still attempting to keep his calm facade up.  
"It's not his company I'm interested in. You are alchemists after all. It's simple really, if he dies then I have a weakness but if we keep him alive then I don't have anything to worry about." Although he sounded confident the homunculus seemed to be struggling just standing there but to Al and Roy, his statement was true.  
"Then why keep him at all? Just let him go," Winry, who didn't really know the first thing when it came to alchemy thought outloud.

Riza seemed intrigued as well, listening intently. Envy cut in, not wanting any information he didn't need them to know, coming forth.  
"Because I still want him miserable, that's why. He played me for a fool, tricking me into the gate." "That wasn't what happened," Al interjected, "You ended up in there because of me. You rushed in to stop me and got trapped in there. That wasn't his fault."  
"It doesn't matter, regardless. We're not budging on this." Envy glanced over at his partner in crime who seemed to be wavering. It was hard working with someone whose only weakness was the death of his enemy. Maybe this was Dante's way of protecting Ed from Envy. The idea sickened him of how much she cared for Ed and for Hohenheim more then she ever cared for him. Maybe if he had managed to look like them. Balling his fists at his sides he turned to leave.  
"This place needs to be destroyed."

It was meant as an order to Greed even if it hadn't sounded like one. Without a word, he brought his arms out on either side of him, becoming as hard as steel. Suddenly several spikes appeared across him and went spiraling through the air, hitting the walls on either side. One managed to reach the chandelier over their heads, sending shards to the floor below.  
"We have to get out before he destroys the place," Riza actually raised her tone. There was no argument as they hurried out of the crumbling building. 


	22. Chapter 22

Author's notes- these two chapters took forever to get to, hope everyone enjoys and happy thanksgiving! Love me and review.

The once ornate structure came down in a loud echoing crash. The four who had travelled down to this forbidden city stood at a safe distance, unsure of what their next move was. Envy was nowhere to be found and from the look on his face when he left and his sudden irrational decision, had Alphonse concerned for his brother's safety. Winry too was left in a state of confusion as she stood next to Al, also wondering how they were ever going to find Edward.

After several unspoken minutes of the dust settling before them, Roy let out a frustrated groan.  
"So we're right back where we started, huh? No Ed and no clue where he could be, again." He looked up above their heads, staring as what should have been sky. "Sometimes I wonder if he's really worth all this trouble."  
"Sir, don't you think you're being a little insensitive?" Riza was attempting to still look presentable as she had returned her gun to her holster and was busy brushing her bangs away from her dirty face. Her effort seemed pointless, but she did what she could. The General turned back to Al and released a heavy sigh. As much as Ed could really get on his last nerve, Alphonse didn't deserve any of this. He had always been patient and thoughtful, everything the Fullmetal Alchemist lacked in character. The least he could do is keep up the search for Ed a little bit longer.

Before Roy was able to say anything that had just processed in his mind, some of the rubble moved. After several large rocks were forced away Greed brought his head up, letting out a cough from the dust.  
"Wow, didn't think I could take out the whole building, that's impressive." He pointed at the mess around him. His bragging was so similar to Ed's that it made his absence all the more real to Winry and Al. "Oh come on, you guys have to find it a little interesting." Before anyone could see it coming, even before Roy had anything to say, Alphonse marched over to the homunculus. No one could see his expression as he kept his head low but his feet remained determined to reach his destination. Greed stood there, waiting for him as though he too was interested in what he had to say.

Al wasn't thinking of what he was going to say as he brought his closed fist forward into the homunculi's face. Unable to block in time, Greed fell back to the ground, completely off his guard.  
"What was that for?" Al couldn't find anything worth saying, still as he continued to slam his fists into Greed. After he ran out of steam and stood there gasping for what seemed to be the first breaths he had taken in awhile, he let out an angry yell.  
"YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE HIM." Everyone including Greed stared in shock as the young Alchemist stop resisting the tears that he had tried so hard to hold back. Finally pointing a now bloody finger forward he went on. "You say you were created after my brother, I have a hard time believing that. You might look and sound like him and even act like him but for some 'thing' that has all his memories and likeness's you don't have a clue."

Greed rose to rest on his elbows, a smirk on his lips as he cleared his throat, ready as ever to explain his way out of this. "Really then who am I..."  
"Shut up!" Al cut him off, taking a minute to get himself back together. "I'm sick of you homunculi always coming after us and not even knowing your reasons why. At least Ed knows his reasons in life which is more then what I can say for you." Greed's smile faded as Al's words actually shocked him. "What reason are you following Envy for? My brother doesn't follow anyone."  
"Boy does he have that right," Mustang chimed in. Alphonse glanced over in his direction.  
"I don't need your help." He sounded annoyed, causing him to back off. "Envy hates you as much as he hates me and Ed. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

Something about this made Greed unhappy. Although he couldn't put his finger on it, there was something that had kept him from bothering Alphonse. It was a feeling that made no sense, even if he had a lot of memories of a false life growing up with him. That had nothing to do with his decisions now. But even so, it was annoying him and he wondered why the other two didn't have this problem. Finally after over analyzing all of this in his head, he responded to Al's accusation.  
"How would you know if Envy hates me. He has no reason to hate me too, I didn't do anything to him." Alphonse wanted to smack him again but refrained as he had already been rash enough for one lifetime, at least for him it was.  
"You don't see it? He hates anyone that Dante paid more attention to then him. The fact that she made you once my brother was gone probably drives him crazy."

Al was surprised at how much he remembered even in such a short time, but it was all as clear as day. He straightened up still standing before the homunculus who remained on the ground. The other three stood in shock, still surprised that Al would ever raise his voice or get as angry enough to punch the day lights out of anyone. Politely, he extended his hand forward, offering to help Greed up.  
"Now will you help us find my brother, please?" If Winry could make one of them feel guilty about her once helping him out, why couldn't Al try the same approach. At least make him question his loyalty for a second. Greed still refused his hand, getting up on his own and jumping away from the alchemist standing in front of him.  
"I can't help you out, sorry."  
"What but why not?" Al watched as he moved even farther away, and didn't bother responding. Roy moved over the rubble quickly, getting next to him.  
"Should we follow him?"

Alphonse shook his head, feeling drained from all of this. Greed would expect them to follow and probably wouldn't take them to Edward. He quietly walked back over near Winry and let out a troubled sigh. She hated to see him so down after working so hard to find Ed.  
"Why don't we head back up?" He barely had the strength to nod as any hope he had seemed for fade away. "We'll keep searching around here, okay," the General offered, referring to himself and Hawkeye. Winry walked with Alphonse back the way they came in order to get here. Maybe it was the fact that Greed really did come across like Ed that Al wanted to believe he would do the right thing in the end, but as Al knew from past experiences, he was never good at separating homunculus from the person they were created from. He had had to come to grips with that notion when he and his brother fought against Sloth.

Before he knew it, Winry and he had already made it back up to the cold streets of Central and were now in front of Sciezka's apartment. Pulling out the extra key she was given earlier that day, she unlocked the front door and they were greeted by the comfort of heated air as they entered. It made the place feel homey next to the frigid breeze outside. Winry pulled off her scarf and coat as Alphonse walked over to the couch, collapsing on it's soft cushions. So much had happened in the past twenty four hour period, now that he thought back. It wasn't even that late as he glanced up at the clock that read eleven thirty. He figured the General and his second in command wouldn't be investigating for much longer, considering the time.

Winry walked into the kitchen and began filling the kettle with water before placing it on the stove. Poking her head into the living room she could feel her heart sinking as she took in Al's facial expression. He seemed the same as when Ed disappeared the first time too, although now he knew more then before. To her, he appeared smaller then normal. She knew from before, he really wasn't up for conversation about it, he just wanted Ed back. The idea of his brother spending the night whereever they had him, made Al shutter. It didn't seem fair that he always had to go through these kind of problems alone, Al wanted to be there with him. A low whistle caught Winry;s attention as the kettle was ready. She moved from the doorway and removed it from atop the stove and shortly emerged from the kitchen with two cups of hot tea.

As she made it over to the couch, she tilted her head to the side and tried to contain a small laugh. After regarding Al again, she placed the tea down on the table and pulled him back up to his feet.  
"You should at least take your coat off." She helped pull it off his shoulders and went to hang it up near the front door. Heading back over to the couch, she was pleased to see that he had taken the one cup and was sipping from it. She sat down next to him and brought her own to her mouth as well. After spending the last half hour, hiking through the snow to get to the apartment, something warm to drink felt great. "You know, Ed will be fine by himself." She brought her cup down, trying to find something encouraging to say. Her statement might have been more blunt then she meant it to be. He nodded quietly back to her as he stared ahead at nothing particular. "He's been through some tough stuff, I know he'll make it through this too."  
"Winry, I know you're trying to help but I just want to sit here if you don't mind." His request was simple and she nodded back with a small smile.

Once they finished their tea, Alphonse ended up falling asleep on the couch. Winry brought their empty mugs back into the kitchen and then covered him up with a blanket, before she took the spot on the floor behind the couch. With all the day's events going through her mind, she still managed to drift off to sleep. 


	23. Chapter 23

Author's notes-sorry it has been awhile for those of you who have been keeping up with this story, Christmas took up a lot of my time these past couple of weeks. So hope everyone has a great New Year and enjoy!

~~~~

Edward's night was restless to say the least as the muscles in his arms strained on either side of him. Although there were more uncomfortable positions then this, he still couldn't manage to find any way that allowed him the sleep he desperately needed. Now that he thought about it, the whole time he'd been in Central, he hadn't gotten much sleep. He could never come here for a vacation and just relax, even if that was not the reason for this particular trip, he still wished he could enjoy himself a little. But there he sat, unable to move from his spot on the floor. Not even alchemy could help him at this point as he had no chance to bring his hands together. He wondered if Envy was getting a kick out of forcing him to sit still and do nothing which tended to drive him crazy. He did, however find that this 'free time' he had, gave him a chance to think about the homunculus that resembled him and what they could do to get rid of at least one of their problems. It had been nagging him up to this point that all three homunculi left were ones that had no body to find, no way to be destroyed, unless there was another way to get the job done.

He let out a sigh of defeat as the fatigue of his mind wouldn't allow him to think any farther then that. His mind drifted as he wondered what was going on up above. Was Envy messing with those he cared about the most, or was he destroying the city while pretending to be the Fullmetal Alchemist, ruining his reputation, as though it could take much more. His real problem was proving that it wasn't him and not sounding like a crazy person at the same time. But then he also knew that it wasn't really Envy destroying his name as much as Greed was. Sure Envy could pretend to be him and even look like him, but Greed was the one who had all the same memories and could really pull it off. He wondered if there was a way to kill him without having to die himself. Already dying once, made the idea of doing it again unpleasant. It would be nice to not face his own mortality for awhile even if the idea of him living a long happy life seemed unlikely at this point. There was a knock on the door, which got his attention. Not so much from the sudden noise in the still room but because of the fact that someone would bother knocking in the first place.

Before he had much time to scrutinize, Envy had turned the handle and was in the room. He received an instant glare from his captive who seemed to attempt not to look indignant, tied up on the floor but it was still humorous and brought a smile to Envy's lips.  
"So enjoying your stay here?" Envy came just close enough to Ed's face to where he couldn't reach him as he tugged on his wrists but to no avail. "Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me, can we get you anything." Ed wanted to beat the sarcasm right out of him.  
"Yeah, you can untie me so I can kick your ass." Envy stood back up and let out a chuckle, as the threat came across kind of empty.  
"Well that would be stupid. Besides, I don't think you could do much to me even if I untied you." The sing song tone of Envy's voice grated on Ed's nerves but he bit his tongue for now as he made silent promises to himself. "What now, no rebuttal? I was looking forward to it."

There was a sound just outside the door and Greed walked in. It almost seemed as if he was checking in to make sure Envy wasn't doing anything cruel. In his hand, he held what looked like a plate of food. Just the thought of it, made Ed's stomach ache regardless of what it was. He could eat anything right now.  
"Aren't you gonna give him this?" Greed came across almost timid as Envy sneered. He didn't like being questioned by anyone and had grown to like not having any other homunculus or human for that matter, above him calling the shots. He stomped over to the door and slapped the plate out of Greed's hand, causing Ed's heart to sink in his chest. Why waste it when he was so obviously hungry.  
"And how is he gonna eat it anyway? I'm not feeding this pathetic human," he hissed back at the other homunculus. Ed couldn't help but wonder what Envy was holding over his head that he allowed him to yell like that.

Greed seemed to pulled back almost as though he could disappear into the floor below if he was able to. Something must have happened between these two that Ed was unaware of. Before now, they seemed unbeatable and united in their hatred but now it was clear Envy was calling the shots.  
"So what, you're just going to starve me then," Ed mouthed off, getting Envy's full rage redirected at him now. Why had he said that, what was he thinking. Making sure Greed could see everything, Envy knelt down in front of Fullmetal with a malicious grin.  
"No, you're right. We still have unfinished business." Before Ed could reply, Envy brought his hand forward and slammed it into his chest. His vision went blurry from such a blunt force. Just when his ribs were starting to feel better, Envy's fist brought back all the pain from before and then some. "Believe me, when I'm done with you, you'll wish I let you starve to death."

Realizing he had actually gotten off easy, as Envy didn't ram his fist completely through his body like last time, Ed leaned back against the wall, trying to catch his breath between coughs. He glanced over to the door as Envy had already gotten up and was heading out. From where he sat, he thought he saw Greed out in the hallway, holding his own chest and breathing hard. Before he could get a better look, the door slammed closed, leaving him alone again. His mind was racing, now given a glimmer of hope in this cold damp place, he knew he could find a way out.

~~~~ The sun hadn't been up long before Al was up and had hurried out of the apartment. Winry was still asleep when he left. Although he wasn't sure what his plan was, he figured he would see if he could find anything out on his own. Eventually he ended up at the dorms where Mustang and Hawkeye were staying. He was curious if they managed to find anything the night before. Riza answered her door, already in uniform as though she had been up for hours. She led the way to Mustang's room and knocked lightly on the door only to get no response. Finally they decided to just go in as he was probably still in bed.  
"Sir, you have company."

Letting out a yawn and stretching his arms over his head, Roy sat up. Al starred in shock, having never seen him in such a mess. He acted as though he could care less though as he rubbed his lower back and let out a groan.  
"You know, considering I came here for you and your brother's benefit, the least you could do is put me up in a nice hotel in town or something. These beds are murder on ones back."  
"I really don't make those decisions, sorry." Al's apology was for lack of something better. He knew darn well his brother would laugh at the idea especially since they were sleeping on the floor of a friends cramped apartment.

"Yeah, and I'm sure Fullmetal would be so accommodating." Roy let out a laugh at the thought and Alphonse couldn't help but nod in agreement. "So obviously we didn't find him last night, although we did narrow the search down. I am not all that sure that he's down below." He made a motion with his hand pointing down at the floor. "I think they want us to think that to buy themselves some time." Standing up he moved to the bathroom and shut the door without excusing himself. Al decided to continue the conversation with Riza. "Were you out late?" "We spend another four hours out looking. We couldn't even find any sign of the homunculi."  
"Sorry you went through so much trouble over Brother."  
"It's okay, we know that if their not stopped, they'll just cause more problems for everyone."

A couple minutes past and Roy stepped out of the bathroom, not in his uniform but in civilian clothes. Riza made a face that got his attention.  
"There's no reason to get all dressed up, besides we might get more information this way."  
"You really think so, sir?" Crossing his arms over his clean white button down shirt, his tone became almost egotistical sounding.  
"Yes, now you should go change." She nodded back and huffed out of the room.

~~~~ "I can't believe he left me behind," Winry was leaning her chin on the counter top while balancing on a wobbly stool in the kitchen. Her hostess sat next to her, rocking carefully back and forth on her own stool, holding a mug of hot coffee.  
"So what are you gonna do? Now both of them are lost, right?" Sciezka's sentiments weren't always heartfelt.  
"No they're not lost, they're just not here. I can't hang around here all day though. But looking for them is like a needle in a haystack." There seemed to be no solution to her problem, she had been abandoned. "Should have known this was going to happen, I always get left behind. And for once, it's Al who's gonna hear it from me. Doesn't he think I'm worried too?"

She was beyond exasperated by this point. Sciezka checked the clock and gulped down the rest of her coffee quickly.  
"Well I wish I could help but I have to run. You could always stay here and fix me stools though." Her tone revealed she was obviously joking but Winry took every task too serious.  
"That's not a bad idea." Desperate to occupy her time, she flipped the one upside down and started messing with the joint on one of the legs. Sciezka hadn't been gone long when there was a knock at the door. "That had better be Alphonse, coming back to get me." She walked to the door, wrench in hand. Not even looking to see who it was, she yanked the door open, practically ripping it off it's hinges. "About time you got back!" She stopped when she realized it wasn't Al standing outside.

Although he was covered in such a way that it would be very hard to recognize him, Wrath stood before her, now scared again for his life as he noticed her weilding her weapon of choice. "What do you want?" Her tone was not one to warrant fear but to still get to the point.  
"I've been having problems with my arm. I figured you could fix it and in return, I would take you to Fullmetal," he offered. 


	24. Chapter 24

Although there seemed to be some hesitation in his voice, Wrath seemed to be sincere in his offer. Winry didn't have to take more then two seconds to think about it before pulling him into the apartment and closing the door. Choosing to use the fear to her advantage she brought her wrench up in a threatening manner, waving in front of his face.  
"You'd better not be trying something here, or else."  
"I'm not, honest. I'll take you to him. I don't have a lot of options when it comes to getting repairs." He did have a point and she brought the wrench down.  
"Fine, I'll help you." She thought about getting a hold of Alphonse but didn't have any way of doing that. It was his own fault for leaving so abruptly anyway.

~~~~

Alphonse and Roy were still waiting for Hawkeye outside her room. Roy already had a good idea of where he could go to get some inside information and getting impatient. He was starting to miss his lazy boring life back at Eastern Command where all this running around was not part of his schedule. Finally her door opened and she stepped out in one of her nicer outfits. "Wow you look really nice," Al commented while Mustang was beyond words. Her hair was down and she was wearing a long slimming white sweater and a pair of khakis. She was still pulling her knee high boots on as she smiled at his remark.  
"Thank you." Once Roy caught himself starring he cleared his throat and let out an annoyed sound.  
"Well if it took me that long to get changed, I'd look that nice too. Now come on, I want to grab some breakfast first before we hit out first destination. Resisting the idea of rolling her eyes, Riza slipped into her coat and pulled her hair out from behind.  
"Yes sir." She followed him out but had still noticed his reaction to how she looked and smiled to herself.

~~~~

It didn't take Winry too long to do the basic maintenance of Wrath's automail, although he was in real need of an upgrade. She finished up and cleaned off her tools. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't all that sure why she had brought them in the first place on this trip. Ed didn't need maintenance anymore. It must have been out of habit. Pulling off her apron she stretched her arms over her head and yawned loudly. Wrath was sitting on the floor, moving his arm back and forth, making sure everything was working correctly. Before he could even stand up she was back in front of him.  
"Okay now you're gonna show me where Edward is?" She was so demanding and he stood up just to get some distance.  
"Yes, I said I would."

He grabbed what was more like a cloak then a jacket and draped it over his shoulders. It just made him look more suspicious to her. "We have to hurry though before Envy gets back." He moved quickly out the door and she had to hurried to keep up. They took the back streets towards the abandoned church. Winry really didn't want to go back to the city but knew it was bound to happen. Just as she thought they were going down below, he headed towards the balcony. There were two doors upstairs and they went to the second one. Ed was where he had been sitting on the floor. As the old door squeaked open, he glanced up to see who had come to bother him this time. Winry's sadness was evident on her face as her eyes made contact with his. Bringing his head back down, part of him didn't want her to see him like this.

Wrath moved into the room for a brief moment, making sure there was no one else there. Once he confirmed it, he headed back into the hallway. Winry walked in and sat down in front of him unsure of what to say. Ed glanced up again with a somewhat suspicious look on his face.  
"So ever go visit your mom's grave?" His question almost made her angry but she looked back at him.  
"Oh Sarah, yes I did before I left home."  
"Just checking. Envy's already messed with me once but why did Wrath bring you here?"  
"We've been looking for you like crazy. Al is really worried about you." Edward wasn't sure what it was she wanted him to say. Hanging his head again, he figured it would just be best to apologize.  
"I'm sorry for making you all worry. I didn't..."

He stopped as his stomach growled loudly causing him to let out a resound sigh. This entire mess really hadn't been good for his health, between the accident, the horrible food in jail, getting beaten up by homunculus, and the lack of sleep, it was starting to get to him. Winry shook her head and reached for her bag and removed something in a napkin.  
"I figured they weren't going to take very good care of you." Opening the napkin, she revealed she had a couple rolls of bread. "Good thing I grabbed these before I left." Edward was practically drooling.  
"Aw Winry, you take such good care of me." He would hug her if he could. She shoved one roll in his mouth and shook her head.  
"Yeah yeah, I'm just that great. Meanwhile we should try to get out of here."

He was nodding back, scarfing down the bread. When he was done with that one, she stuffed another one in his mouth. As happy as she was to finally find him, Winry found this moment to be somewhat empty.  
"It's always going to be this way, isn't it?" Her voice came out softly but louder then she expected. He glanced up at her, swallowing hard.  
"What are you talking about?" She shook her head again and smiled. "No it's nothing."  
"No, really what are you talking about?" He was determined for her to answer. "Are you talking about coming to save me? Like that's happened so much."  
"It has lately if you count me getting you out of jail." Ed let out a soft laugh and leaned back.  
"That's not what you're talking about is it?"  
"It's not that big a deal so just forget it."

She was beginning to get irritated. Even in a situation like this, Ed always managed to get on her nerves at the most inconvenient moments. And what actually made it amusing this time was the fact that she could leave and he wouldn't be able to follow. But this fact as obvious as it was, did not deter him.  
"I just don't understand what you're talking about." Just as he said that, the door was slammed opened, practically coming away from the wall. Envy walked in with an even more annoying smirk on his face then normal.  
"Are you really that stupid? I can even tell you what she's talking about."

~~~~ Al stood outside of a small bar, rubbing his arms. He had been waiting for Roy and Riza for over twenty minutes. As much as he wanted to go in and see what was taking them so long, he didn't like the idea of going into a bar. Finally when he was at the end of his patience, the door opened and they walked out.  
"So did you find anything out?" Al moved quickly to follow them as Roy hurried down the street. "Other then General Hakuro has been missing for two days, nothing. I wonder how the military will handle his disappearance considering they're still struggling with the Furers." His tone revealed he wasn't all too thrilled by the lack of information. It seemed as though this was one of his best sources.

Hawkeye caught up with him, keeping her voice down so that Alphonse wasn't able to hear the rest of their conversation.  
"What do you want to do now, sir?"  
"To be honest I'm ready to call it a day when it comes to finding Fullmetal. He's always getting himself into these predicaments and I'm starting to think that he deserves it."  
"You know we can't do that after getting this involved." Roy let out a long sigh as though he was trying to get his thoughts together. He honestly didn't know where to go from here.  
"Let's get something to eat, maybe I'll be able to think straight on a full stomach." In the back of his mind, he knew that eating wasn't going to make much of a difference, if they didn't get any other leads. The homonculi were very good at keeping themselves hidden to the point that people even questioned their existence. 


	25. Chapter 25

Winry's breath caught in her throat as Envy walked farther into the room. The whole time he kept his eyes on Ed, enjoying the snarl that had worked it's way across his face. This was his moment, that he could cause the most damage. "Are you really so dense? I mean I got farther then you ever did and you've known her much longer then me. It didn't take me long at all." He allowed Ed's mind to wonder to all sorts of possibilities. He stopped glaring in Envy's direction and looked at Winry.  
"What's he talking about?" His question made Envy gleam even more at the emotional stress he was causing.  
"It's not what you're thinking, it was nothing."

She waved her hands back and forth in defense but Ed didn't seem convinced. All it did was make him think there was more to this then what she was saying. "Then what is he talking about?"  
"Oh I know what I'm talking about." Envy leaned closer to her, invading her personal space by grabbing her wrists. Before Winry could pull away his mouth made contact with hers. Edward could feel his blood boiling as he helplessly watched. Pulling away from her mouth Envy glanced back at his captive. "That's what happened. She tastes good for a human."  
"Get away from me, he made me think he was you," Winry slapped him in the chest and brought the back of her hand across her lips. Envy continued to smile, moving closer now to Ed.  
"Yes but this was after you figured out I wasn't him. Or did you think that was a subtle move." Shock came over Ed although in the back of his mind he wasn't sure why this bothered him. He had never even hinted at being more then friends with her.

After giving it some thought he still had no answers and his temper melted away.  
"This is stupid," he muttered under his breath, knowing full well that Envy was getting too much joy over the chaos he was creating.  
"Is it? Maybe it would be if she didn't know it was me, but she did." He still grinned triumphantly. Ed was not going to let Envy know how much this bothered him as he remained quiet. After all, sitting on the floor tied up couldn't really get any more embarrassing. Winry had nothing more to say either, as a deep red stained her cheeks and she realized that she just wanted to get away.

A couple of quiet minutes went by before Envy realized that he was not getting the reaction he wanted. Now he had to decide what to do with Winry. If he let her go, she would just go and tell the others where Edward was and if he forced her to stay he would no doubt have to tie her up as well. It wouldn't be a problem if he had something to tie her up with but he didn't. The best conclusion for the situation was to keep her and send one of the others to find some rope. Finally conceding, he grudgingly left the room, locking the door behind him. Heading down the staircase, he found Greed and moved quickly towards him.  
"I need some rope." His direct statement made Greed want to tell him to get it himself. "Don't you blend in better in society? I think you'd be better off going out and I can stay here to keep watch."

Envy clenched his fists at the other homunculi's audacity. He was really starting to hate being questioned. Resisting to smack Greed in the face, he kept his fists at his side.  
"Listen stupid, that mechanic managed to find her way here and someone with half a brain has to keep watch. I don't know if you can handle that." Greed smiled back mainly because he was some what happy that Envy's plan was beginning to unravel.  
"Really cause some little girl's gonna have any chance against me? I could just knock her out while you're gone and it won't be that big a deal now would it?"

Grimacing at the idea, but knowing full well it was as good a plan as any, Envy nodded back even though he knew full well that Greed tended to be somewhat lazy. It was one trait he had inherited from their hostage upstairs that was more evident then some of the other traits.  
"Fine, do what you want. I actually wanted to go cause some more trouble anyway." He released a sigh letting the issue go. "Don't screw this up." With that final warning he changed his appearance and headed for the door.

~~~~ After Envy left the upstairs room, the silence remained between the alchemist and the automail mechanic. Neither one of them made eye contact with the other and neither knew what to say. The silence could drive a person to talk no matter how awkward the conversation might be. It couldn't be as agonizing as the silence. All the quiet made Edward think more and more about the situation. Which turned his confusion to frustration.  
"We should get out of here." Winry's small voice broke his concentration but he still didn't glance in her direction. She moved to the door only to find it to be lock and even though it had just been slammed opened, it still held firm. Reaching into her coat pocket, she realized she didn't have her picks.

Edward remained where he was, as though he had no desire anymore to leave. Giving up on the door, she went over to one of the chairs and took a seat. "Guess we're not going anywhere." Her statement irritated him and he finally brought his head up.  
"So you're just okay changing the subject and acting like nothing happened?" She was not expecting him to be so stuck on this, usually he was the one changing the subject.  
"I..,I don't know what to say about it. I didn't want him to think I knew something was wrong. You made it pretty clear that he's dangerous." "I never said anything about kissing him." Ed's face went slightly red before his next statement. "It's not like you'd ever kiss me like that." This conversation was so out of character for him, she was shocked they were even having it.  
"Well what about you, the same could be said for you," she came back with, defensively.

He had nothing to say to that, he had his reason why. The life he was forced to live had no room for personal attachments and he swore he would never be anything like his father. Until he could guarantee a simpler life, he wouldn't risk her safety and if that meant never getting closer to her, that was the price he was willing to pay. The idea of her going through the same thing he watched his mom go through for so many years was not worth it. He just shook his head, not wanting to reply which made her let out an angry huff. "So this is how it's always going to be. Sometimes I just don't know why I bother." That was her way of ending the conversation. It wasn't going to resolve anything and it was just better to stay mad at him or at least it was to her. Edward wanted to say something equally angry but decided not to, keeping his grief to himself. The silence returned, worse then before. Winry thought about untieing him but she was mad at him even if she had no reason to be.

As though he could read her thoughts he glanced back up at her and let out a tired sigh. She wondered if he was trying to look pathetic or if it just came naturally with his arms bound on either side of him.  
"Could you undo my wrists? These ropes are really starting to cut in." With another huff, she reluctantly stood and leaned down, working on the one knot.  
"This doesn't change anything," she muttered as she got the first part undone. He decided it would be best not to answer as she continued her task until both his arms were loosened. He remained on the floor, rubbing his wrist. He thought about getting up, but his rear end was kind of numb and he needed a minute.

Winry went back to sitting in one of the chairs across from him, still not saying anything else. After remaining on the floor for a little longer, Edward got to his feet feeling fatigued, mostly in his legs. Glancing around the room, he looked for something he could use as a weapon for when Envy or whoever came back. He hadn't really ever tried to knock a homunculus unconscious but it was worth trying. The only thing that would remotely work was one of the chairs. He could always transmute something if need be and he could also just get rid of the door altogether and get them out of this. Of course then he ran the risk of the homunculi getting away. There was no guarantee they would stick around. For the moment he would remain a hostage even if it meant dealing with such an awkward situation.

~~~~ Alphonse was fidgeting all through the meal, wondering what their next move was going to be. As much as he didn't want to be worried and knew Ed could take care of himself, he still didn't trust Envy and the others. Quietly he trudged down the sidewalk behind Roy and Riza, going through the recent events since they arrived in Central. Had the homunculi expected them to come here or was it just a coincidence? He knew there had to be more to this then what they thought. Glancing up, he noticed Mustang was speaking in a low tone as though he didn't want Al to hear him. Straining to listen, he realized Roy was making it sound that they had run out of options.  
"Are you saying we're giving up?" Alphonse's tone made it clear he wasn't very happy about the decision. Roy stopped and turned back, stuffing his hands in his pockets.  
"What else would you recommend? I can't exactly have the whole military looking for Ed. We've kind of come to a dead end here."

Al's gaze dropped to the ground and he nodded, showing he understood. There was only so much they could do and this was not the first time something like this had happened. Al remembered what it was like when Ed disappeared before and he had no leads then either. He wasn't going to give up yet.  
"What about the threat of the homunculi? You can't forget about that. Even if we stop looking for my brother, we'd find him eventually."  
"He does have a point," Riza chimed in, not wanting to give up on Ed either.  
"You want to convince the counsel that there are still non-humans walking around causing all these problems?" Mustang wasn't trying to be difficult, just realistic. "At best we could tell them that Fullmetal is missing but then that get's me in trouble for not watching him closer."

All three of them stood there, silently contemplating what would be the best solution. Al was correct that Roy couldn't just forget about the homuculi but getting the military involved could cause more problems. Al looked up at Roy, waiting for him to make a decision. After a couple of minutes of Al's big brown eyes making him feel guilty, Mustang let out a tired sigh.  
"Okay, okay. We'll see what we can do. You're much better at the guilt trips, that's for sure." Alphonse smiled to himself, even though he wasn't trying to make anyone feel bad. ` 


	26. Chapter 26

It was starting to become dim in the small room as the sun was setting in the distance and dark clouds moved in over the city. A tiny window on the far wall was the only evidence that time wasn't standing still. Since Winry refused to now acknowledge Ed, his short attention span took over and he spend the past hour or so figuring out a trap around the door for the next person to open it. If all his calculations were correct which he never doubted, whoever came in next would regret it.

At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder why the heck Winry wasn't speaking to him like he had done something wrong. As much as he wanted to argue the point that he should be the one whose mad, there was no point. So instead of getting into it with her, he paced back and forth, his mind going from one topic to the next. Although she wouldn't admit it, Winry couldn't help but watch him even if it bothered her. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and let out a low growl.  
"Would you please sit still? You're driving me crazy." Her blue gaze was met with his annoyed glare.  
"I've been sitting still for awhile now." She looked away, twisting her one earing. In the midst of the silence, there was the sound of thunder overhead and then the sudden pounding of rain hitting the roof above their heads.

Thankfully there was the sound of the doorknob turning. Ed grinned, as this was the moment he was waiting for. Another second went by and as the door started opening, he clapped his hands together. Greed walked in and caught sight of him just as he placed his palms to the floor. Blue electricity shot through the room, causing Winry to close her eyes and turned her face away. Spikes transmuted from the floor and the ceiling, shooting into the homunculus. There was not enough time for him to move out of the way and he was knocked back into the hallway.

Still smiling triumphantly, Ed pulled his hands up along with a metal staff. Walking into the hallway, he looked over Greed to see if he was getting up.  
"Alright, let's get out of here." He offered his hand to Winry who quickly grabbed it. Just as they were about to run down the hallway, Greed's claw grabbed onto her ankle. Letting out a scream, she tried to kick him off.  
"You can't think it's gonna be that easy." He gave her a hard yank, pulling her down to the floor. Ed brought his weapon around to hit Greed in the face. As it shattered against his hardened skin, he shook his head in disbelief. "You're a slow learner, aren't you." Bringing his leg around, Greed caused Edward to also fall to the ground. "Why do you have to always be so difficult. Just do what he wants you to do."

Ed tried to kick at the homunculus who had his legs around his foot, keeping him from getting up. Winry was also determined to get up as she tried to push away.  
"What are you talking about," Edward inquired through his teeth.  
"Envy is more then capable of killing all of us. You don't want to push his buttons." Both Winry and Edward stopped struggling against him.  
"Are you helping us?" Greed released his grip on them and stood up, composing himself.  
"No, I just don't want you screwing this whole thing up." Ed remained where he was on the floor crossing his arms and letting out a huff.  
"And what makes you think I'm gonna screw anything up? Don't pretend that you know anything about me," he grumbled looking away. Greed grunted back with a grin, eyeing Winry.  
"Yeah sure cause you're already doing such a great job. Please."

Edward got to his feet and leveled the homunculus with a glare. He was trying to size him up and figure out what he was attempting to pull but due to lack of much needed sleep and sustenance, his mind didn't want to work.  
"So then what is Envy's plan?"  
"He doesn't trust me enough to tell me, all I know is he's got a lot of leverage."  
"Great, that's a big help."  
"Edward, knock it off," Winry piped up, standing as well. "You're so cranky."

Greed was not about to get into their little spat as he cleared his throat trying to get back to the matter at hand.  
"You would be better off leaving the city and taking her and your brother with you. Envy is still determine to get revenge on you and he's willing to do whatever it takes to make you miserable." Edward rolled his eyes, showing he wasn't buying this story for a second.  
"It just sounds like you want me out of the way." Greed let out a low growl then brushed off the annoying comment.  
"That's fine with me," he slid an arm around Winry's waist and pulled her over to his side, "I'll just take the machanic with me and you can stay here and die again." Winry pushed away from him and put her finger in his face.  
"First of all, I'm not remotely interested in any of you homunculi. Secondly, if you touch me again, I'll beat your brains in. And finally, what do you mean 'die again'?"

Her question was meant for Greed but her glare was directed at Ed who was slinking away from her. He realized had never told her. Greed glanced in his direction as well and grinned thoughtfully at the situation. "Oh so you never told her about that did you? Interesting." He rubbed his chin in delight, causing Ed to swallow hard. "Shut up, if you're suppose to be anything like me, you should know my reasons already." His tone was low as though that would keep Winry from hearing him but it didn't matter.  
"Edward, what the hell is he talking about!" She was fuming now even more that he acted as though she wasn't there.  
"Well it's kind of complicated, maybe we should get out of here before we're caught and I can tell you later."  
"No, we'll talk about it now." She was determined by this point maybe more so now that she had a valid reason to be angry with him.

Greed moved closer to her again and put his arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner. She turned her head, staring at his hand on her.  
"Yeah it really is a shame that you can't trust him to tell you everything. I'm not really that much like him, I mean I got all the good qualities. You should just forget about him, babe." "What did I say about touching me?" She grabbed his wrist and twisted out of his grasp, pulling his arm behind his back.  
"Ow, ow, okay you win, make her stop." Greed pleaded first with her and then Ed.  
"You think I'm gonna help YOU now? You've gotta be kidding." The Fullmetal Alchemist crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, enjoying someone else hurting for a change. Greed let out a growl.  
"Maybe this is why you two don't have a clue. You're always too busy hurting each other." Winry released him and backed away.  
"What are you talking about?" Straightening up, he turned serious for a minute.  
"It's a shame that the only person here who doesn't have a human soul and doesn't know anything about human emotion has it all figured out more then the both of you."

Ed grit his teeth and pushed off the wall, irritated that a homunculus had the nerve to tell them anything about their relationship.  
"No one asked you your opinion. I don't care what you think you might know about us, you don't."  
"Maybe not, but I bet I have a pretty good idea." There was a moment of awkward silence as Ed was trying not to get any more upset.  
"Whatever, we're leaving whether you like it or not."  
"That's a great idea, piss Envy off even more. See what happens."

With his patience already gone, Edward let out a frustrated noise. He was tired of this situation and tired of how complicated things were getting, mostly due to Winry's presence.  
"Then what would you recommend, since you have all the answers."  
"It's simple, when it comes to you, Envy doesn't think very clearly. You have to use that to your advantage." Ed shook his head, reaching up to rub his temples.  
"I have to be crazy. I am getting tips from you of all people."  
"Fine, figure it out yourself. I have better things to do other then dealing with your problems."

Before anything else could be said, they heard the double doors below open and someone walk in. Greed leaned over the railing to see Envy down below with some rope hanging off his shoulder.  
"Well you're problem just walked in. By all means go and take care of it yourself." 


	27. Chapter 27

Envy glanced up, looking for Greed. Without turning around, he kicked the door shut, keeping the cold air out. How he managed not to freeze his tail off, was a miracle. Edward moved towards the back wall, out of sight. As much as he didn't want to admit it, automail would really come in handy right about now. "Hey, Greed. Where are you?" Before he could even answer Ed pulled Winry behind him and clapped his hands together. "Sorry bout this." There was an explosion above Envy's head as several peices of wood came crashing down along with Greed. Before the dust settled, Winry felt Ed grab her hand and pull her around the corner to the fire escape.

Hurrying down the stairs, Winry had to watch her footing otherwise she could easily trip on the slippery staircase. Once they made it to the bottom, Edward still had her by the hand and lead the way out into the freezing rain. The closest place he could think of going was the dorm. Being outside for too long would definitely result in them getting sick.  
"Where are we going?" Winry felt like she was yelling over the rain. Both of them were already pretty soaked.  
"Don't worry, we're pretty close to the dorms." They had stopped for a second as he looked around the corner to see if they were being followed. Winry glanced down, noticing he was still holding her hand.  
"Um, Ed." Following her gaze, he released his grip quickly, hoping she didn't notice him blushing.  
"Sorry." He coughed out.

Winry pulled on her ponytail, trying to get some of the water out of it. Noticing her trembling, Edward clapped his hands together and touched a nearby trash can. Blue sparks flew from his fingers and as the light faded, he held out a metal umbrella for her.  
"Thank you." She took it from him and they headed towards the dorms.

~~~~

Envy pushed several pieces of broken wood off himself, letting out a cough. He was lucky he didn't get run through. Looking around he didn't see anyone else but had a feeling that his two hostages managed to get away.  
"Should have figured she was going to be trouble." As he pushed more wood out of his way, there was some movement against the far wall. Greed stood up, rubbing the back of his head. Envy let out a growl, stomping over to him. "What the hell happened? I thought you were going to keep an eye on them."  
"Yeah and it wasn't a problem until she untied him."  
"Great, knew I shouldn't have left." "So now what do you want to do? This place looks pretty bad."

He mused for a minute, realizing his plan was beginning to unravel. He could go back to infiltrating the military, although now that they were suspicious of Hakuro, he wasn't sure if that would work. There were records now in question and it would be hard to combat that. "We're leaving." Greed was curious what he was planning but knew Envy wasn't going to tell him.

~~~~

Edward convinced the officer at the front desk to let him use one of the private suites in the dorms. They walked up several flights of stairs and down a long hallway. Pulling the key out of his pocket, Ed pushed the door open and reached in for the light switch. The room was very clean, with a queen size bed and dresser off to the side. There was a large window looking over part of Central with a couch in front of it. Winry followed him in and noticed the large bathroom to the right. Edward moved across the room to the window. It was now dark out and still raining. He shut the curtains and turned to see that Winry was in the bathroom, probably seeing how bad she looked due to the weather.

Opening the top drawer of the dresser, Ed found a fresh uniform and grimaced. Although his clothes were pretty drenched and he wanted to get cleaned up, he needed for find Al first. Winry came back into the room, pulling her hair off her neck. Edward had already exchanged his damp pants for the blue ones from the uniform. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to the floor along with his pants. He had his back toWinry, not knowing she was standing there. She noticed a thin white scar going around his right arm and shoulder where his automail use to be. Her gaze fell to the floor, trying not to stare at him changing. Even though she'd seen him plenty times before, their relationship had changed a lot lately. Maybe they weren't as close as she thought or maybe they had just changed that much.

Deciding she didn't want to think about it so much she took a seat on the bed, still not looking up.  
"So are you leaving." "I have to find Al and let him know we're okay. We'll probably stay here instead of at Sciezka's. She's already put up with us enough, I really don't want to involve her more then I already have." He pulled the clean shirt on. "Speaking of which, when are you planning to head back home?" Winry's head shot up when he asked.  
"I wasn't going to leave until Al and you were ready too." Edward shook his head as he finished buttoning his shirt and pulled his hair over the collar. "I don't want you being a liability. Envy is going to get desperate and I don't want him anywhere near you."

He realized his messy braid was beyond repair and yanked the rubber band out. Winry frowned at the idea of leaving and wonder if it had anything to do with what happened earlier. She watched him pulling his hair into a ponytail, trying to think of a reason to stay. Once he was finished he turned back to her, waiting for her to say something.  
"I don't want to leave yet. I can help." "How?" Ed really didn't want her in harms way any more then she already was.  
"I just can, why is it such a big deal anyway? I've already done a lot since I've been here."  
"Winry, I'm not saying you haven't help out. We'd probably still be stuck in jail if it wasn't for you, but it's really starting to get dangerous. I don't want to have to worry about your safety."

She glanced down, fumbling with the edge of her scarf. Edward knew if she left, she would just sit at home and worry about them just as much as he was worried about her staying here. He let out a tired sigh, deciding to just let it go. "I'm gonna head out. You should get cleaned up before you catch a cold." She nodded, knowing he wasn't giving up, just didn't have time to fight over it. He headed out the door quietly, making her wonder if he was okay.

~~~~

Brushing the entire situation with Winry aside, Edward headed back downstairs to see if Mustang was in his room. Bringing his hand up to knock on the door, he noticed how sore his arm was. He was not going to let Envy get away with this. It would be paid back with interest. After about a minute standing there, Mustang finally opened the door. Looking down as Ed, a smirk made it's way across his face.  
"Well you certainly saved us SOME trouble."  
"Glad you didn't loose any sleep over me." Mustang moved out of the way, letting him in and closed the door.

Riza was sitting on the couch organizing some papers. She glanced up to see Ed standing there with his hands in his pockets and smiled. She noticed the grim look on his face and the dark circles under his eyes, but he was still in one piece.  
"It's nice to see you're okay." "Thanks, Al wouldn't happen to be here?" "No, he left earlier. I think he went back to Sciezka's." Ed made a face at the idea of having to go back out in the rain.  
"Maybe I can just call him."

Roy sat down on the couch as well, also looking over the papers on the coffee table. He sighed loudly, deciding he didn't want anything to do with the paperwork.  
"You could probably get a car to head over there. You know, one that doesn't blow up."  
"I'm not staying the night over there. We're going to stay on the fifth floor." He pointed up. Roy's expression turned serious when he said that.  
"You mean they're letting you stay in the one of the Commanding Officer's rooms? How'd you pull that off?"  
"I just asked at the front desk."  
"That's not fair. Meanwhile I have to share a bathroom with two other people."

As much as Edward enjoyed bothering the General, he had more important things to take care of. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  
"So where would I get a car?" "The magical front desk has the keys. They're all parked out front." Roy waved his hand as though he was dismissing him. "We still need to talk about this problem but we can do that later. Your brother has been really worried."  
"Thank you, sir." Mustang was surprised Ed actually seemed to be respectful as he turned to leave. Once they heard the door close, Riza glanced over at the General.  
"Well that was odd." Mustang shook his head at her.  
"He's probably got a lot on his mind." 


	28. Chapter 28

It was still raining outside however it was now coming down in a light drizzle. But the cold weather remained, making Ed relieved that there were extra coats and gloves in the lobby. He was starting to feel spoiled and wondered why he didn't take advantage of all these perks before. Unlocking the driver's side door, He felt a little uncertain. Driving was not something he had done often and never in Central. Starting up the engine, the car lurched forward slowly. Luckily at this hour, there weren't many people on the road so he had less chance of hitting anyone. Maybe after he found Al and talked to him about what happened, he could also convince Winry to leave. She seemed to have a harder time saying no to him.

The entire trip over to Sciezka's was quiet and the roads were surprisingly not as slick as he thought they would be. Once he parked out front with no problems, he hurried inside unsure if anyone was watching him. Lately he was feeling paranoid from everything that happened. It didn't take Sciezka long to answer the door, with a huge grin on her face she pulled Ed into a a hug.  
"I'm so happy you're okay." "Yeah..thanks...uh Sciezka?" He waited to see if she'd pull away.  
"Yes?"  
"Could you let me go?" She finally released him, stepping back and laughing.

He walked into the apartment looking for Alphonse. Sciezka headed into the kitchen, carrying dishes in from the living room.  
"Can I get you anything? Have you eaten?" Her question reminded him that he hadn't had much to eat for awhile now.  
"If it's not a problem. I don't want to inconvenience you." "It's no trouble. So is Al or Winry with you?" She already had a pot sitting out on the stove.  
"Well Winry is at the dorms. We're probably gonna stay there from now on."  
"Really? You're more then welcome to stay here." Ed leaned against the doorway into the kitchen, shaking his head.  
"We know but you've been dragged into this whole mess enough. Thanks for all your help though."

Sciezka's gaze dropped to the floor as though she was sad at the idea of them not staying there. As much as she didn't always like the danger, it was kind of exciting.  
"Have you found anything out?"  
"Not really, although I was hoping my brother would be here." Sciezka pulled a bowl out and poured the contents from a pot into it. "Sorry I haven't seen him all day. I hope you like stew. Winry showed me how to make it." She handed him the bowl. After smelling it, he couldn't help but smile.

~~~~ Alphonse walked down the sidewalk, feeling somewhat drained. He felt like he had wasted the whole day, although he didn't have much to go by when it came to finding his brother. Eventually he decided to call it a day as he was beginning to feel tired. Sleep had become quite an inconvenience to someone who use to not ever need it or anything else for that matter. He pulled his collar up on his coat, hoping to keep some of the cold wind off his neck. Turning the corner, he could see Sciezka's apartment in the distance. Even though he was a couple blocks away, he could make out a car sitting outside and someone placing something in the back.

Unsure of what was going on, he picked up his pace. From where he was it looked like someone from the military. The person moved under one of the street lights and he got a better look at them. Hurrying in their direction as fast as he could go, he had to watch out for a patch of ice on the way.  
"Brother," he called, hoping it didn't bother any of the neighbors who might be trying to sleep. Edward glanced up from the car, as he placed Winry's suitcase in the back.  
"Al? Where have you been?" Before Alphonse could answer him, he had to stop to catch his breath. He could feel his heart beat in his ears as he leaned forward.  
"Me, what about you? I've been worried sick about you. How'd you get away?"  
"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way to the dorms." Ed scratched the back of his head.  
"The dorms? We're going there this late?"  
"Yeah, I've got a room there. Come on."

Al got in the passenger side of the car only to realize he was being too trusting. Edward jumped in the driver's seat and started the car up.  
"So when are you going to visit Winry's mom?" Al glanced over at his brother, hoping he answer the question right and that he hadn't gotten his hopes up for nothing.  
"Yeah yeah, Sarah. I guess you're right to be suspicious. I found out all about that earlier."  
"All about what?" They pulled out of the parking spot.  
"Our question. Apparently Envy pretended to be me with Winry."  
"Yeah she told me about it, it's a good thing we thought about it."  
"Did she tell you he kissed her?" Al stared back in shock.  
"I'm surprised he'd do something like that, I mean he's made it pretty clear that he doesn't like humans. So why would he bother kissing her?" Edward gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.  
"Because he wanted to make me mad, that's why."

Al leaned back in his seat, thinking about the situation a little bit more, realizing it did make sense to him now. There were only so many things that drove his brother crazy.  
"Yeah, that would make you pretty mad. Especially when it comes to Winry."  
"Now what's that suppose to mean? I'm more worried he's gonna hurt her if nothing else."  
"Well why does this bother you so much? He didn't hurt her like you said, so what's the big deal." Ed couldn't understand why it didn't bother Al that Envy had been so forward with their mechanic friend.  
"Because, no one should do that to her. It's giving her all sorts of ideas and I just don't like it."  
"And you're jealous."  
"I am not."

Ed let out a huff, trying not to get too drawn into the argument as he was trying to drive.  
"Anyway it does make sense now, why you were acting like such a jerk before. It wasn't really you. So did Winry find you then?"  
"Yeah, Wrath brought her to where they were keeping me. And then that loser Greed was acting all like he was trying to help us out. I'm starting to wonder if Dante did something else to him cause I don't think he's so much like me." Other then punching Greed in the face, Al didn't really know much about the homunculus either. There was a couple a minutes of silence before Alphonse spoke up.  
"Hey, you're driving. When did you learn to do that?"  
"Why do you sound so surprised? I can be responsible when I need to be. Dad taught me when I was on the other side of the gate."

Al nodded quietly back. He wished he had gotten to spend more time with their dad. Shifting some in his seat, he leaned his forehead against the window. Before long they were in front of the dorms again.  
"Hey Al, I need you to do something." Edward turned off the engine and pulled the keys out, holding them in his gloved hand. "You have to tell Winry she needs to go home. I can't have her here where she could get in trouble."  
"Why don't you tell her?"  
"I did, she doesn't listen to me. Before we had a stupid fight about what happened with Envy and she got all mad at me. Apparently I'm don't have the right to be upset about it. So now she's just mad at me."

His tone dropped as though for the first time their fighting bothered him. He never liked it when they fought before but this time he really wasn't trying to fight with her. "Why does this have to be so complicated? Why can't she just listen to me?"  
"I'm sure she has her reasons, just like you have yours. You really worried that something else might happen. It's not like this has been the easiest trip for us. Who knows what else could happen. I'll talk to her but I don't know if it'll do any good." Ed smiled wryly as they exited the car and grabbed the bags in the back.

After returning the keys for the car, they headed up the stairs to their room. As they walked in, Ed realized that the sleeping arrangement might not work out, as they found Winry already sleeping in the one bed. "That spoiled brat, we've been sleeping on the floor the past several nights, the least she could have done was taken the couch." Alphonse placed their suicase on top of the dresser and let out a sigh.  
"Brother keep your voice down, you'll wake her up. Besides maybe the couch opens up." With that suggestion, he moved over and pulled up one of the cushions to reveal another bed.

As Al worked at pulling it out, Ed tried to get Winry to move over so he could sit down to take his shoes off. She was such a deep sleeper.  
"What a bed hog." Luckily she was unable to hear his grumbling. "Maybe I should have gotten two rooms instead."  
"It'll be okay." Al got the other bed pulled out only to realize it was only a full size which was kind of small for him and Ed. "Um, well we've had worse." Ed slouched forward, wanting nothing more then to pick Winry up and make her take the smaller bed. But she was already mad with him and he really didn't want to push his luck. "Fine, whatever. Just don't kick me." He headed for the closet to get some extra blankets.  
"And you don't snore, Brother." Al went over to help him make the bed.

~~~~ The next morning came sooner then Edward wanted. His night was full of tossing and turning and as much as he wanted to blame it on the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, he couldn't. Too many things were on his mind these days, which made the much needed sleep impossible to get. As the morning light came into the room, he found himself on the edge, giving most of the bed to his younger brother.

Finally deciding to get up, he headed into the bathroom for a shower. Afterward he would go see Mustang to give him an update and then get breakfast for the three of them. As the hot water hit his shoulders, he let out a tired yawn. As much thinking as he had been doing the night before, he still didn't have a solution to their current problem. There was one way to get rid of the homunculi but he really wanted to avoid opening the gate again. It was too unstable to mess around with.

He moved his hair out of his face and leaned forward, placing his hand on the cold tile wall. The problem with the homunculus wasn't the only thing bothering him. His friendship with Winry came to mind and he wondered what would happen to it after everything else was resolved. It would be so much easier if she would just leave and he could put his personal life aside. Once he was done in Central, he could head home with Al and take care of whatever was bothering her then. His thoughts went back to Resembol and the idea of going back to a quiet life there brought a slight grin to his face.

Alphonse and he had worked and fought so hard to have a normal life again. As much as he had wanted to get away from that little dust ball of a town, right now the idea of things being simpler sounded really nice. Just thinking about it eased his mind some, making him realized he had to get through the rest of their time here no matter what it took. With a new determination, he turned off the water and reached out for a towel. Pulling the curtain open he stepped out, drying off. Just as he started drying his hair with the towel, he heard the door open and turned to see Winry standing there. 


	29. Chapter 29

Ed froze where he was, shocked to see Winry just standing there. She was rubbing her eye and still seemed to be half asleep.  
"Occupied," he stated in an annoyed tone, quickly bringing the towel down around his waist. She still didn't seem to know what was going on as she remained where she was. "Winry, get out." A deep flush made it's way across his face as she glanced down, finally realizing why he was so upset.  
"Eep," she squeaked and turned around, "Ed, sorry...I didn't know you were in here." Her cheeks became a light shade of red as well.  
"It's fine, just please give me a second." She reached behind her and closed the door, leaving him alone in the bathroom.

Once he was finished drying off and dressed, he opened the door and glanced around, noticing she was no where in sight. Heading into the room, he realized she was back in bed with her pillow over her face. He took in a deep breath and headed over and sat down at the edge of the bed. Pulling his hair back into a braid he decided to say something to ease her embarrassment.  
"I've got a meeting with Mustang and then I'll grab some breakfast ,okay?" She nodded causing the pillow to move. "Are you going to be all right?" He leaned down near her.  
"I'm fine, really." Her voice came out muffled. Edward straightened up and shrugged, grabbing his long black military coat and heading out.

After going down to Mustang's room, he discovered he'd already left for the main office. Grumbling most of the way there, Ed trudged along through the now melted snow. He could feel it slushing under his boots. It was odd for Mustang to be at work so early in the morning. As Edward walked up the stairs leading to the largest building in Central, he noted that there weren't many soldiers present.

Walking through the hallway, he got lost in his thoughts again as he stared at the floor. He almost missed a turn and glanced up to see Riza sitting outside Roy's office. She glanced up to see him and smiled lightly.  
"Good morning Edward, did you sleep at all last night?" For some reason she always did notice how tired or stressed he looked. Maybe it was because she still thought of him as a child and felt that he dealt with more then someone of his age should have to. He forced a smile back.  
"I'm fine. Is he in?"  
"Yes, he's waiting for you. Go on in."

Ed nodded back and walked in, closing the door behind him. Roy was on the phone and motioned for him to come in and take a seat. Once he got off the phone his gaze fell on Ed's clothing and a frown formed on his face.  
"And here I thought you were actually going to stay in uniform. Guess that was hoping for too much." He was now wearing his usual black pants and brown belt with a dark crimson red collared shirt but he still had the coat and white gloves from the uniform. He just shrugged it off.  
"Anything new happen. It's kind of early for you isn't it?"

Ed leaned back in his chair, bringing his one leg up on his lap and slouching, making sure he was as comfortable as possible.  
"Not today unfortunately. I spoke with the counsel and they have declared Hakuro missing. Until they find a body or whatever they will decide who will be the next to fill in as Furer. I've been told I am at the top of the list." Edward laughed under his breath and stretched his arms over his head.  
"Ah, so you're getting promoted because of me, is that what you're saying? It's okay, I accept your gratitude."  
"Very funny, anyway I was also told that all charges against you and your brother have been dropped. After reviewing your record, they decided that you've done nothing that required such hostile treatment.  
That being said, you've been reinstated. Congratulations."

Mustang opened one of the side drawers of his desk and pulled out a metal item and placed it infront of Ed. Leaning forward, the Fullmetal Alchemist picked up the new silver pocket watch. He had to admit it was nice having it back. "So Fullmetal, I'm guessing you and your brother would like to stay here in Central. If you want I can have an apartment set up for you here, however I think you need to rethink your dress code. The last thing I need is anyone thinking I am giving you special treatment."  
"Actually sir, I was thinking of something else." Roy sat up some, kind of surprised that Ed wasn't taking him up on his offer. "If it's okay, I'd like to head home and do my research back in Resembol." The General stared at him for a second, wondering why the change. Finally he let out a chuckle.  
"Oh I get it, yeah sure that does make sense since your machanic is there and all."

Edward gave him an odd look, wondering why that would be a reason for him to go home. Although Winry was part of why he wanted to be relocated. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it happens. Besides there are a lot of alchemic resources out there." He knew he should feel relieved but for some reason he felt that Roy wasn't doing him any favors. "So now that we've got that out of the way, tell me what's been going on with our other problem." This was the part of the conversation he wasn't looking forward to but he was determined to let the General know everything.

After several hours at the main office, Edward finally headed back to the dorms. Making a quick stop on the way, he grabbed some breakfast at a small donut stand along with some coffee for himself. As he opened the door to their room, he remembered what had happened that morning and felt his face flush at the thought. Hopefully Winry didn't remember much about it. Alphonse came into view as he turned to the opening door. Concern came over him, as he noticed the discouraged look on Ed's face. Before he could ask him anything, he plastered a wide fake grin on.  
"Hey I'm back and I've got donuts." Winry was sitting on the couch and seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. He walked over to her and handed her his cup of coffee.  
"Want some?" Figuring he forgot about earlier, she happily took it.  
"You do realize this is more like lunch," Alphonse mentioned, although he was really enjoying his donut.  
"And what's wrong with donuts for lunch? I would have been here sooner but I had a meeting with Mustang." "Are you planning on leaving again?" Winry finally glanced up at him, noticing he still had his coat and gloves on.  
"Well we still have to deal with our homunculus problem." Ed turned to look out the window. "Although we have no clue where they are."

Alphonse finished his donut and grabbed another one from the bag before handing the bag over to Winry. He couldn't think of anything that would help, considering he had tried to find them the day before and had no luck. "Did Mustang mention anything about the military helping out?" Al's dark brown eyes met Ed's gaze.  
"He's trying to keep them out of it because it'll bring up too many questions about us."  
"Guess that makes sense."  
"But he offered any resources we need and his own help."

The conversation was making Ed's stomach turn as he thought about the mess Envy had made for them. But there was no avoiding it. Al remembered what Ed wanted him to talk to Winry about and figured this was as good a time as ever.  
"Hey Winry, have you thought about heading home? I'm sure Granny misses you." She shook her head, resolutely.  
"I want to stay with you. Can't I just stay in the room, that way you don't have to worry about me."  
"But Winry, it's really dangerous around here. We'd feel so much better if you were back in Resembol." She dropped her blue gaze down to the cup in her hand, trying not to cry.  
"What if you don't come home? What will I do then?"  
"We'll call you every night. I know we don't have the best track record but I promise we'll call."

There were several minutes of silence where she started to sniffle a little, knowing it would help them out more if she left.  
"Actually I didn't get to tell you yet. I've been reinstated." Edward pulled his new pocket watch out.  
"Really, even without the automail," Alphonse asked him, causing Ed to snap.  
"It was my awesome talent, not just the automail. Sheesh."  
"Yeah but you know it helped."  
"Oh sure, when people weren't mistaking you for me." Winry wanted to laugh at them but still felt bad about the idea of leaving. "Anyway," Ed continued, speaking through his teeth, "Roy offered us an apartment in town however, I told him we wanted to stay in Resembol. There's a lot of minerals around that area and the state doesn't have anyone out there. So we'll be heading back once we get this resolved."

Winry felt some relief come over her, knowing they would definitely come home. She looked up at Edward, who was smiling down at her. It made her feel so much better and gave her hope that things would eventually be normal again.  
"Okay, I'll head back tonight. But you better call me every night you're still here, or else." She wiped the corner of her eye, taking in a deep breath. Just as Ed was going to say how relieved he was, something outside caught his eye. Turning his attention in that direction, he saw a blond standing down below, smiling up at him.  
"Well at least he made it easy for us." An ironic grin reached Ed's lips. Alphonse stood up and looked out the window as well seeing the same thing Ed did. "I'm really tired of all these people trying to be me. He must have gotten desperate."

Without saying another word the Elric brothers hurried to the door, Al waving bye to Winry as they left the room. She glanced out the window to see what was happening. She watched as Envy waited just long enough for them to get down to the street before he took off running. Ed's voice could be heard even from where she was standing.

Surprisingly, Envy led them straight back to the abandoned church. Al was shocked when they got inside, taking in the sight of the mess his brother made.  
"What happened here?"  
"Uh well, there's a perfectly normal explanation for this." Edward scratched his cheek as they tried to make their way to the front of the building.  
"Don't bother, I'm sure you had everything to do with this, Ed." As much as he wanted to argue back, Ed was too determined now as he pushed broken wood out of their way, getting closer to the secret entrance. They ran down the dark flight of stairs, now wondering what kind of trap Envy had planned.

Once they made it down into the city, they stopped to catch their breath. This area was actually kind of pretty as water cascaded down into a blue pool. Broken statues littered the area around them as they paused in their search. It was almost like a different world down here. Unfortunately every trip had made it difficult to enjoy the scenery. Looking around there was no sign of Envy anywhere.  
"Where do you think he went, Brother?" Ed remained quiet, listening for anything that might give him a clue. A shadow appeared from above, causing him to jump backwards, dodging Envy landing on him. Loosing his balance, Ed fell backwards into the shallow water. "Good move." Envy straightened up and grinned menacingly. Edward got back up clapped his hands together, pulling a spear with two sharp ends out of a nearby wall. Holding it in one hand he pulled another weapon out as well, this one more like a sword and tossed it to his brother.  
"Here yah go, Al. Let's see if there's another way to kill one of these things." His tone was deadly serious.

Alphonse heard someone moving in on him from behind and turned just in time to block Greed. Unfortunately he was too strong and knocked Al to the ground. Ed was about to help him when Envy got in his way.  
"That's not a very smart place to stand." He ran forward, swinging his staff. The homunculus jumped over to part of a statue's head, surrounded by water. It didn't keep Ed away though as he ran over, soaking his boots in the process.  
"Oh I think it's perfect, but this fight needs a little something else." Before they got too involved in the fight, Envy transformed into Winry wearing a very short skirt and tank top. "This feels a little bit more comfortable." A cocky smile pulled at the one corner of Ed's mouth.  
"Didn't you learn last time that your cheap trick doesn't work? You're just reminded me of something else to be pissed off about."  
"We'll see how easy it is this time," Envy mused in a lighter female voice, lunging at his opponent.

Meanwhile Greed was nice enough to step back long enough for Alphonse to get up. However Al was not about to give him the same gesture as he ran at him, aiming for his midsection. As his weapon broke making contact with the homunculus, he clapped his hands and dropped to the ground, sending a spike directly at Greed's head.  
"I would have figured you'd know better then that." He smashed through it as though it was cardboard.  
"Never said I was finished with you either." Al came into view again, now with a canon aimed in his direction.

Over the blast, Ed ducked low, avoiding Envy's swing and bringing his foot up, making contact with his back. The idea of him kissing Winry came to mind again and brought a new level of anger to Ed as his eyes burned into the homunculi's.  
"What's the matter, does it still bother you?"  
"Shut up, I am going to make sure you never bother us again!"  
"And I'm going to make sure you're miserable." Edward brought his weight forward, kicking his opponent in the stomach, sending him flying into a pillar. Standing up, Envy let out a whimper, acting innocent. "Edward, why are you being so rough?" Winry's voice reached his ears.  
"Hah, same stupid tricks, don't you do anything else?"

Greed was attempting to pull himself back together as Al had managed to keep him at bay with the canon. Alphonse was not letting him have an inch and unlike Ed didn't want to get so rapped up in the fight that he ended up getting soaked. He decided to stay on the dry land for his portion of the fight. If his brother could take care of Envy, then they would only have the one to deal with. He glanced over his shoulder to see how Ed was doing. He also tended to be more mouthy, although Al hadn't been keeping up with the conversation. Envy turned back into his normal form.  
"Well how about this trick, it worked pretty well last time." He transformed his arm into a long slender blade. He flipped into the air, picking up momentum as he came down. At the precise moment, Ed brought his legs up, catching Envy's face between his boots and slamming his face into the water. Faster then the Fullmetal Alchemist could predict, he was back up and swinging at him again, this time landing the blade's sharp edge into Ed's stomach around to his back and cutting his right arm. It wasn't too deep as he had moved away as best he could but it still stung.

At the same time, Greed fell to the ground, yelling in pain simultaneously with Edward. Squinting through the pain he glanced up.  
"I thought you weren't going to kill him." Al halted his attack, confused at what had happened. Envy turned to Greed as he coughed up several red stones.  
"I'm not, just enjoying myself." Ed swung his leg around, also knocking Envy away. He landed with a solid thud.  
"Enjoy that," he huffed back, holding his midsection.  
"Brother, are you okay?" Al hurried through the water to help but Ed put his hand up, leaning against a pillar.  
"Yeah I got this, don't worry, it's not so bad." He was beginning to understand how Greed could be killed. They were connected through pain. "So if you can't kill me, what's left Envy? Eventually you'll run out of ideas. You only good at taking orders." The homunculus grit his teeth and he moved slowly to get up. Al moved back into solid ground, standing several feel away. He glanced back at Greed, making sure he was staying down.

Envy began laughing, still on his knees. It was loud and grating on Ed's nerves which just made him enjoy it all the more.  
"I don't have to kill you." Before anything else was said, he lunged in a different direction from Ed. It was like it happened in slow motion before his eyes as Envy moved towards Alphonse. Just as he turned back, Al felt something sharp pierce his side. White flashed before his eyes as his body suddenly felt heavy. Edward's feet refused to move for him as he watched in horror as his little brother's body went limp on the ground at Envy's feet.


	30. Chapter 30

Ed couldn't breath. His voice wouldn't come out as he tried to speak but he could feel his eyes tearing up as he stared at Al lying on the ground, red beginning to seep into his shirt. Before he could say anything, another voice said what he was feeling.

"ENVY! You bastard, what did you do?" Greed's fist slammed into Envy's face sending him skipping across the surface of the water. "Get away from him!" The other homunculus was moving quickly to continue the beating. "What are you doing,...you're suppose to be on my side, stupid." Memories that didn't belong to him haunted Greed's mind, making him feel every emotion Edward had towards his little brother. He grabbed his head with both hands, trying to tell himself he didn't care. It was no use.

While the two homunculus went after each other, Ed moved as fast as he could through the water over to his brother. He pulled his jacket off as he carefully turning Al around.  
"Al...? Alphonse!" His voice cracked as he tried to assess the damage. More blood escaped from the wound, which made Edward even more concerned. "Come on Al, stay with me." He moved his bangs off his forehead. Alphonse winced, opening his eyes barely. bringing some relief to Ed.  
"Bro..ther...what..." Trying to think clearly, he placed pressure on Al's side making him shut his eyes tight, unable to utter a sound. This predicament was really bad, once Envy got tired of being a punching bag, all he had to do was hurt Ed to stop Greed. Glancing away from Al, a small red sparkle several feet away caught his eye and he knew what he needed to do.

Reluctantly leaving Al's side, he walked over to the red solid shard lying near the entrance and picked it up. It was just in time as Greed was thrown off of Envy.  
"Good help is so hard to find these days. No one has the stomach to do what's necessary." Edward walked in his direction, receiving an evil grin. "Oh so you've decided to let your brother die, that's fine with me, in fact you can join him if you want." Edward was beyond talking as he brought his hands forward, allowing Envy to see the small stone inbetween his thumb and palm. "What do you think you're gonna do with that?"

The clap of his hands echoed around them and everything faded into white, bringing to two of them in front of the gate. Envy stared up in shock, knowing full well what it meant. He moved away, past Ed, seeing if it would take him instead. The gate started to opened, making a high squeaking sound like an old door that needed oil. Several small hands reached out, moving past Edward towards Envy.  
"No, you need to take him. Why do you want me?" His anger was evident as it pulled him away from Ed.  
"Goodbye Envy, this is where you belong. Don't come back." Ed's tone was calmer then normal, it even surprised him. Envy's complaints were silenced as he vanished from sight. As soon as he was gone the hands returned, grabbing at Edward's body.

There was an inaudible sound from inside, as though it was saying something but it would be impossible to know what. Ed smiled faintly, bringing his head down as though he understood.  
"No..I don't want anything...There's...nothing you could give me." His vision became blurry but he kept his emotions in check. One tiny hand reached up and gently brushed his cheek as all of them returned to the gate as it closed. He stood there alone, feeling his heart sinking lower and lower. "I have to get back."

Before he knew it, he was standing in the shallow pool again. Turning back to where Al was laying, he noticed he was gone.  
"Alphonse, Al?" Frantically he looked around, now the only evidence that his brother was ever there was the small puddle of blood.  
"Calm down, I've got him right here." Greed stood in the entrance leading to the staircase. "You need to get him to a hospital." Ed moved towards him and he handed Alphonse over wrapped in his jacket. "He passed out a couple of seconds after you left and was calling for you."

The Fullmetal Alchemist nodded solemnly, trying to think straight. His mind was overwhelmed at the moment.  
Greed's expression was equally sober as he moved out of the way. "You won't see me anymore. I just want to be left alone. I thought I didn't care but...please take care of him though, and Winry too."  
"Uh..yeah." With that, Ed hurried up the stairs with almost inhuman speed. He was in too much of a hurry to stop and ask for help anywhere once he made it to the surface. One thing he noticed was that it was depressingly dark out which made him wonder how long he had been gone. The hospital wasn't too far, which was the one nice thing about Central. Holding Alphonse closer, he felt blood on his neck now and seeping into his clothes. Al didn't have much time at this rate.

Finally the emergency room came in sight, and he picked up the pace. As the ER workers saw him coming, they hurried to meet him with a stretcher. He yanked out his pocket watch for ID. Alphonse was rushed away from him as the nurse handed him his jacket back. Even with all the people around him in the waiting room, he felt this horrible feeling of loneliness. Quietly he took a seat off in the corner, unsure of what else to do. Pulling his legs up on the chair, he brought his arms around his knees and leaned forward. This place made him feel small and he hadn't felt that way in a long time. It probably had to do with the fact that he could do nothing to help.

He was only there for a couple of minutes before a nurse walked up to him, noticing all the blood on his gloves and shirt.  
"Sir, are you okay?" She smiled warmly as he glanced up at her. He remembered the gash he had received earlier. Maybe he should let them take a look at him too.  
"Why don't you come with me and we'll get you cleaned up at least." Unknowingly he nodded and followed the nurse into one of the smaller rooms. She pulled out a tray with some supply. Another nurse came in as well, with a chart. They had to let his commanding officer know he was here and he dumbfoundedly gave them whatever information they needed.

Once they finished with the chart, the two nurses left the room to call Mustang. He sat there alone, covered in his brother's blood, trying to think straight. Had Alphonse felt this way, the night they tried to bring back their mom and he woke up in that hollow armor? It was ironic how their roles had changed and the feeling made him feel ill. Shock had taken over as it took him longer to register what was going on and he was lost in his random thoughts. After sitting there for several minutes, he wondered when they were coming back as his gaze fell on his gloves. Slowly he pulled them off, as the sight of all the blood was starting to make his stomach turn. It was about a half an hour before the nurse from before came back into the room. He heard his name and glanced up still in his stupor.  
"Sorry Fullmetal, sir. It's just been a busy day." She helped him remove his coat and started wiping his face off with a dampened cloth and moved down his neck. He had a small scratch on his face and she placed a bandage on it. Getting his shirt off, she also cleaned and bandaged the gash on his arm and midsection. "There, all done. You weren't so bad off."

Carefully, she placed the bloodied clothing into a bag for him and handed him his black undershirt. Nodding back in acknowledgment he took it from her. Leaning down, she made eye contact with him.  
"Are you going to be okay, sir?" Her tone was sympathetic.  
"Um...can you tell me anything about my brother yet?"  
"Why don't you rest in here for now, and I'll see what we can find out." Forcing the next breath into his lungs was all he could do in response. She politely excused herself, leaving him there alone again. His mind wondered to Winry and he remembered they had told her to leave today. Hopping off the table, he went out to the nurses station for a phone.

The line in their room continued to ring with no answer. Edward could feel a lump forming in his throat. She had to still be here, he couldn't handle this alone. Pulling out the city guide next to the phone, he searched for the train stations number. Locating it, he pressed the number in, his fingers almost trembling. There was a voice on the other end of the line to greet him this time.  
"Yes, can you tell me if the train for Resembol has left yet?"  
"It leaves in about fifteen minutes, sir."  
"I need to speak to one of the passengers, please. It's an emergency." Trying not to sound too desperate, he bit his lower lip, hoping this would work. "Okay sir, what's the passenger's name."  
"Winry Rockbell. I have to talk to her."  
"Give me one minute, sir"

He heard the receiver get placed down and there was silence on the other end for several minutes which felt like an eternity. If she was already on the train it would be almost impossible for them to track her down. There was a click on the other end and Winry sweet voice called out, making it easier to breath. He was so relieved he almost forgot to speak up.  
"Winry...you can't leave." "Edward, is that you? What's going on, I thought you wanted to me go."  
"Al got hurt. I need..you, please." He didn't care how pathetic he sounded, he needed his childhood friend more then ever now. She let out a small gasp, trying not to drop the phone.  
"Okay, where are you. I'll be right there." "We're in the emergency room." As much as she would normally mock him for their second trip there, she knew it was not the time for it.  
"Okay, I'll get a cab there, it's gonna be okay, Ed."

He wanted to crumble into a pile on the floor when she said that but he just nodded, a small sound escaping his throat. Hanging the phone up, he made his way back to the room he was in before, sitting back on the table. It occurred to him that he felt exhausted but had no desire to sleep. There was a light knock on the door and the short doctor from their last visit entered the room.  
"You're keeping us in business, Fullmetal. How are you feeling."  
"I'm fine," he had no desire for small talk, nor did he care about himself, "Are you the one taking care of my brother?" Despite his efforts to ignore his own needs the doctor still held a small light up to look in his eyes.  
"Yes I am, they're preping him for surgery." Ed's amber eyes grew wide with concern but the doctor let out a light chuckle. "There's nothing to worry about. I'll take good care of him. You're just stressing yourself out, calm down."

Edward tried to breath normal as the older man checked his blood pressure and heart rate. Once he was done, he jotted some notes down and turned back to his patient.  
"You were right, you should be fine as long as you don't worry so much. There is one thing you could help with but I don't know if you're up for it."  
"What is it? I'll do whatever you need me to."  
"Well your brother lost quite a bit of blood, we really need you to donate some. Just a pint."  
"Okay." As the word left his mouth, part of him was screaming in the back of his mind at what he had just agreed to.  
"Great, I'll let the nurse know."

With that he exited the room, leaving Ed to think about the horrors he was about to experience. But it was for Al, he would do the same for him. The door opened again and Roy entered the room, observing the uneasy look on his subordinate's face.  
"Oh come on, you could look a little happy to see me." His concern remained obvious and he brought his arms in front of him in a protecting manner.  
"Al needs blood." He gulped, as his gaze met the General's.  
"And? What's the big deal?" Remembering that this was one of those things he didn't feel Mustang could understand, he tried to act normal.  
"So what are you doing here?"  
"Hm, should have known you'd be ungrateful. I came to see how you were holding up." Roy crossed his arms over his chest.  
"As long as he makes it through I'll be fine. If you're wondering about anything else, it's been taken care of." He sounded annoyed as his statement came out in a harsh tone.

It was not the General's intention at all to find out what happened with the homunculi threat since obviously there were more important issues at hand.  
"Don't worry about that now. I'll see if there's anything the military can do to help out. You're not the only one that cares about Alphonse, you know." Edward brought his head down and nodded back his thanks. There was a familiar voice in the hallway and Roy leaned out to see Winry speaking with a nurse. "I'm gonna head out, let me know when Al's better." With that he disappeared into the hallway, making eye contact with the mechanic and pointing her in the direction he was just leaving. On his way out, he stopped at the nurses station to ask about giving blood.


	31. Chapter 31

Winry knocked on the partially opened door, pushing it open the rest of the way. Ed brought his gaze up, no longer hiding his distress. She could feel her heart sink at his expression, remembering that night Al had brought him to her and her grandma. He seemed just as broken now as he was back then. She didn't know what to say as she came farther in and took a seat next to him. "Have you found anything out about how Al's doing?" "They said he needs surgery." He kept his voice down as though he was telling her something secretive. "I don't know what to do." Winry brought her hand over and placed it on his back, feeling the fresh bandage around his waist. It brought a frown to her face, knowing he wasn't in the best shape either. He noted her look, knowing what she was thinking and gave her a look that said not to worry about him.

They just sat there, side by side in silence but at least it wasn't awkward anymore. At the moment though, Edward couldn't even think about anything that had happened between Winry and him. His thoughts were interrupted as there was another knock on the door and the nurse came back, carrying a tray. Ed could feel goosebumps spread over his entire body as he unknowingly scooted closer to Winry.  
"What are you doing?" He practically grabbed her and pulled her in front of him for protection. The nurse got her needle ready.  
"I think I'm gonna die." She could feel him shaking behind her. "It's not that bad, Fullmetal," the nurse assured him only causing him to drop his head.  
"Ed, are you scared?"

Winry leaned down to get his attention. He nodded some and twitched as he felt the nurse tied the rubber band around his arm. "I'm going to die." Winry tried not to laugh but couldn't contain herself. Ed turned and glared at her. "It's not funny." He really was nervous and it was taking every ounce of strength to sit still and not run from the room.  
"Edward, you can withstand automail surgery but can't take a little needle." She definitely wasn't helping ease his nerves any and neither was the slapping of the nurse's gloves. "I'm going to die." His voice cracked as his bottom lip started to tremble. Winry's hand slipped around his, getting him to look in her direction. Suddenly his terrified expression became more flustered.  
"You're going to be fine, besides it's for Al."

She smiled at him and her tone was reassuring, despite how she laughed at him a minute ago. The nurse cleared her throat, indicating she was ready as she took hold of his arm.  
"Do you want me to count to three?" It almost sounded like she was speaking to a small child. Ed grit his teeth, trying so hard not to shake. Winry chimed in for him.  
"You're better off just not letting him know." He turned back to her not sure if he liked her help or not. Looking ahead his mouth pulled into a tight frown as there was a sudden prick in his arm and Winry would have sworn his face turned blue. "I'm gonna die." His voice squeaked

His head fell onto Winry's shoulder and she gave his hand a squeeze. She restrained from calling him a baby. After so many minutes, she felt him relax some. Before he knew it, the nurse told him she was finished and he felt her slide the needle out of his arm. He brought his head up quickly only to suddenly feel dizzy from the movement. "Whoa..." He slumped the other way and felt Winry pull him back up.  
"It's all right, just drink this." The nurse handed a cup of juice to Winry since Ed didn't seem capable to hold anything other then her hand.

The nurse gathered up her tray and headed out of the room. It took Edward several minutes before he even realized the whole thing was over. Lifting his head some, he started to feel dizzy again and leaned on Winry's shoulder.  
"Can I pass out now?" He still sounded pathetic as he breathed in a sigh of relief.  
"You should drink this, it'll help." She held up the cup and he took it. After a couple of minutes of sitting there, he attempted to get down, still a little light headed. The nurse pushed the door open and handed a Winry a small white envelope.  
"You're all set to go now." She turned back to Edward.  
"We can't stay till there's any news about Al?"  
"We really need to room and they discourage family members staying the night in the waiting room. I'm sorry. If you'd like we can call you as soon as we know anything."

He nodded silently and followed her out to the nurse's station. Before he got up there, he recognized a soldier that he wished he hadn't even seen. The soldier made his way over to him with a serious look on his face.  
"Fullmetal?" Harrison's tone was void of any emotion. "Yeah? What do you want?" Edward balled his fists at his side, wanting to take his frustration out on this guy. Harrison saluted him which caught him off guard.  
"Sorry sir, General Mustang sent me with a car to take you back to the dorms whenever you're ready."  
"Oh okay, we're leaving now. Just a minute." He couldn't help bt wonder if Mustang choose Harrison on purpose because of how he treated him in confinement. Determined to make sure they had the room number to reach him, he waited for someone behind the desk to help him. Winry turned back to the nurse that had been taking care of him and held up the package she gave her earlier.  
"So what's this?" "The doctor wanted me to give it to Fullmetal. It's to help him sleep." Winry nodded, placing it in her pocket.

Once Ed was finished he headed towards the door, Winry close on his heels. They got into the car and it lurched forward onto the street. The ride there was very quiet as the two of them settled into the back seat. Winry couldn't help but wonder about the item in her pocket. Glancing over at Ed, she noticed he was leaning against the window, watching the city go by. He seemed out of it to her which made her wonder if he would even need what was in the envelope. The car slowed to a stop in front of the dorms and Harrison got out to open Winry's door and then Edward's. He saluted him again, making the side of Ed's mouth twitch.  
"Do you need anything else, sir?" "No, that's fine." He waved his hand back and forth as if emphasizing he wanted to be left alone. With that Harrison left and they walked into the building.

The room was strangely silent and empty as they closed the door. Edward shuffled over to the bed, placing his bag of stained clothing and pocket watch down on the side table. He slumped down onto the bed and began taking his boots off. Winry remained near the door, removing her jacket and scarf. It felt like there was a great distance between them as she wasn't sure what to say to him at this point. Heading into the bathroom, she turned the sink of and began washing her face. As much as she knew he normally didn't tell her what he needed, she still wanted to give him some space.

He pulled his pants off and got under the covers, glancing over at the clock. It was only a little past seven but it felt so much later then that. It made him wonder how long he had been in the gate and if there was some kind of difference in the time. Even now he couldn't turn off his mind, trying to figure something so minimal out. Not wanting to sleep yet, he leaned against the backboard not looking at anything in particular in the room. The image of Alphonse falling to the floor at Envy's feet came to mind and caused him to shutter. The thought made him almost forget how to breath. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he leaned forward taking in a deep breath of fresh air.

Winry came out of the bathroom, holding a glass of water and headed over to the bed. Even with the lights out, she could make out Ed's figure against the back of the bed. He looked as though he would disappear if he could. Carefully she sat down as though if she went too fast, he would pull away from her.  
"The nurse told me this would help you sleep a little better tonight." She offered him the envelope from before. Normally the idea of taking medication for something like a better night's sleep would bother him, however this day had been anything but normal. He accepted it without complaint. Once again Winry was at a loss of words and stood from the bed.  
"I'll take the couch tonight, okay." She took the glass of water from him,placing it on the side table. Quietly she made her way to the couch, hoping not to bother him.  
"Winry.." The sound of her name caused her to paused halfway in the room. "You don't have to sleep on the couch." His tone was quiet as though he didn't want anyone else to hear him.  
"It's okay, I got the bed last night. We can take turns any..."  
"That's not what I'm saying. It's just...there's room for both of us and I..I would like it if you stayed with me tonight." Tilting his head down, she lost sight of his eyes. Knowing she probably looked ridiculous, standing there with her mouth open she nodded back.  
"Oh all right." Heading to the other side of the bed, she removed the rubber band from her ponytail and placed it next to the phone. Her hair fell over her shoulders as she crawled in next to him.

He remained quiet, still leaning forward as though he was keeping his distance. Winry started to wonder why he wanted her there if he wasn't even going to acknowledge her presence. Deciding to be a little bold, she placed her hand over his which got him to glance over at her. Even in the darkness she could make out how upset he looked. As though he could break at any moment.  
"Edward, it's going to be alright."  
"I..I should have known though, I knew what Envy was capable of and I..."

His voice didn't cooperate as his statement barely made it out of his mouth. She scooted closer, hoping that it would make him feel better only for him to lean completely into her. She brought her arms around him as he took in one heavy breath after another. "What if...if.." His voice trailed off again and he started sobbing uncontrollably. Everything had been building up for so long that it all came out at once. He wanted to say so many things about what had happened but was unable to. After several minutes of this, he felt Winry lightly kiss his forehead.

He moved, bringing his face up to look at her. A slight blush came across her cheeks as he locked eyes with her. Carefully moving her hair off her shoulder, he leaned into her neck, breathing in deeply.  
"Edward?"  
"Just...can we just stay like this? Please." His lips brushed against her skin, but instead of making her shiver, she smiled contently as she felt his arms around her waist. He held onto her in such a way that almost seemed desperate. As though if she wasn't there, he would be devastated. She found herself rubbing his back again and leaning on his head.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that before the phone next to her rang. Reaching for the receiver, she realized he was still clinging to her. By the third ring, she had managed to grab the phone, although the reach was difficult.  
"Hello?"  
"Yes, we're calling for Edward Elric. Is he available?" She turned to him, only to see he was already asleep.  
"Well that explains a lot." She placed the receiver back to her ear. "He's unavailable, can I take a message?"  
"This is the hospital, we just wanted to let him know his brother is okay and we moved him to the ICU." Winry smiled at the news and could feel tears forming in her eyes. Clearing her throat she wiped them away.  
"Thank you so much for calling. I give him the news." She got off the phone and settled again under the covers, pulling Edward closer to her. Gently shaking his shoulder she leaned down to his ear. "Ed, are you sleeping?" He stirred some, moving his head to the side.  
"Winry..." She brushed his hair out of his face and decided to tell him in the morning. It would be nice to give him some good news when he woke up. Quietly she leaned back against the pillow and closed her eyes, listening to Ed's steady breathing.

~~~~ Author's notes- I can honestly imagine all of Ed's face faults during the first scene in this. Hehe. 


	32. Chapter 32

Author notes-Because I can't have an uneven number of chapters. -_-

~Epilogue~

It was past ten the next morning before Edward opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed, other then the groggy feeling in his head was that he was laying sideways in the bed. Turning onto his back, whatever he was lying on felt stiff under his head. When it moved, he bolted up and turned to see Winry still asleep. The night before came to mind as well as yesterday's events. Panicked, he shook her awake which did not make her happy. As much as she wanted to holler at him, his concerned look made her pause.  
"Did the hospital call this morning?" She let out a yawn, sitting up and stretching her arms over her head. She suddently remembered the call from the night before.  
"Oh yeah, I spoke to them last night after you fell asleep, Al is fine."

Ed's shoulders dropped and a faint smile fell across his lips. He practically collapsed back on the bed as relief swept over him.  
"Thank goodness." He stared up at the ceiling, rubbing his forehead still trying to get past the fuzzy feeling from earlier. Winry came into view and his amber gaze looked back at her.  
"You should put some clothes on and we'll go visit him." He turned his head slightly then glanced at himself, realizing he was just in boxers and his black tank top.  
"Winry!" His tone came out annoyed and shocked.  
He shot up quickly from the bed, searching the area around the bed for his pants. His face turned a deep red from embarrassment.  
"What?"  
"What do you mean what? I can't have you seeing me like this. What will people think?" He grabbed one of the blankets and covered himself. She couldn't help but laugh at his antics.  
"What people?" Just as she said that there was a knock at the door which only flustered him more.  
"Those people." He pointed at the door.  
"Excuse me, Fullmetal but the General sent me," the person on the other side of the door called out.  
"Just a minute, please," he called back, trying to think straight.

By this point Winry could not contain her laughter anymore as he threw pillows off the bed. For the life of her, she didn't understand why he was so frantic.  
"I don't get what the big deal is, now that you don't need automail you're suddenly so modest?" The person at the door knocked again.  
"Sir, is everything okay in there?"  
"Damn Mustang, trying to be so helpful," Ed muttered, leaning down finally seeing his pants under the bed.  
"I can get the door." Winry offered walking in that direction.  
"No, no I'll get it." He yanked the black fabric over his legs and buckled his belt.

After what sounded like a tornado inside the room, the door finally opened slightly and Edward stuck his head out.  
"What?" He was obviously annoyed already by the soldier standing there. It was Harrison...again. "Oh sir, the General wanted to send you some breakfast." There was a cart next to him with covered dishes on it. "He also wanted to let you know I'm available to take you back to the hospital whenever you want. Also he needs you to go to his office some time tomorrow." It was obvious that this was a way for the General to bother the soldier and it brought an ironic grin to Ed's face. He grabbed the handle of the cart and pulled it towards him,slamming the door in Harrison's face.

Pulling it behind him, he found Winry was sitting on the end of the bed waiting for him to join her.  
"That was nice of him." "Seems kind of suspicious." He sat down next to her and immediately went for the coffee while she pulled the covers off the food. She was about to start eating when she heard a loud sigh from him. "Uh, Winry...about last night. I started to tell you something." He hesitated, taking a sip of coffee as though it helped.  
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's not that big a deal to me" Shaking his head he got his resolve back. His tone becoming very serious as though whatever he had to say was going to hurt her.  
"No that's not it, listen. It has to do with what Greed was talking about. When Al got his body back, it wasn't as easy as you would think. Envy and I were fighting and I lost...I technically...died." His gaze dropped away, unable to see the horror on her face. Before she could say anything, he continued. "That's what Greed meant when he said 'die again.' We never told you about it."  
"But how are you here now?" "Al brought me back." She suddenly realized that was one of the reasons this had been so hard on him. It wasn't something that could be fixed with alchemy.  
"It was probably good that I didn't know about it till now." She smiled, getting him to look back up at her. "Come on, breakfast is getting cold." Quietly he nodded back, glad that she wasn't angry at him.

~~~~

The meal was more then they could possibly eat. As Winry cleaned up in the bathroom, Ed grabbed a dark blue shirt from his suitcase and pulled it over his head. He grabbed some clean clothes for his brother too being optimistic that they would let him leave that day. Lightly knocking on the bathroom door, he called out to see if Winry was ready. They headed downstairs and out to their ride. This trip wasn't as quiet as the last one, as Ed told her how he hoped they could held home soon now that they knew Al was okay. It was nice to see him not so depressed anymore.  
The waiting room was not nearly as packed as it was last night. It wasn't very long before they were following a nurse down the hall to a normal hospital room. Al turned and seemed happy to see them.  
"Brother, I was wondering when you were going to get here." He looked really tired to Ed and it pulled at his heart.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Not bad, considering. The doctor said I could leave in about two days, if everything still looks good."  
"That's not too long, I was afraid they were going to say like a week." Winry took a seat next to the bed, smiling contently to see her friend was okay.  
"Winry? I thought you were already on your way home."  
"Ed called the train station and just caught me. I couldn't leave once I heard what happened."

Edward found another chair and sat next to Winry, crossing his arms and making himself comfortable. Al's deep brown eyes turned back to him.  
"What about you, are you all right, Brother. I'm sorry I made everyone worry so much."  
"We're okay and don't apologize. It wasn't your fault." Edward forced a big smile, trying to keep Alphonse from feeling bad. "But what happened after,...well after I don't remember anything else."  
"I took care of it. There's nothing else to worry about. You just need to get better."  
"What'd you do though." Edward didn't not want to get into specifics especially with Winry in the room.  
"Like I said, it's no longer a concern. We'll talk about it later.

Alphonse dropped it, knowing by now by the tone in his brother's voice that he was not going to get anymore information. Winry decided to cut the tention by changing the subject.  
"Al, you wouldn't believe it, Ed gave them blood for you. You'd be so proud of him." "Did you really?" Ed sat up some, feeling his ego somewhat inflate.  
"Well yeah, I'd do anything to help. It was no big deal."  
"Is that so, good to hear cause they told me I need another transfusion." The color from Edward's face drained away.  
"Oh great." Al let out a small laugh, knowing Ed better then that.  
"I'm just kidding. Although if that's true it does explain why I've been so moody lately?"  
"You're not funny, yah know," Ed snapped back, sitting up in his seat.  
"You don't have to worry, Brother. They told me Mustang also gave me a pint too. I should be fine now, honest."

Leaning back, Edward was surprised that Mustang would do anything like that. Despite his crude jokes, he really was going out of his way for them. Which meant the Fullmetal Alchemist would be even more indebted to him. As though he knew they were talking about him, Roy knocked on the open door with a smile brimming on his face.  
"Alphonse, it's good to see you awake." He walked in more and stood at the end of the bed.  
"General, we were just talking about you," Al replied and noticed Riza behind him. "Hello, Hawkeye. I had no idea I was so popular."  
"Well you are easier to get along with then some." Roy laughed at his own joke, receiving a glare from Ed.  
"Not funny," he mumbled.

Alphonse covered a yawn politely, catching Riza's attention. She knew all this excitement was probably a bit much for him.  
"As nice as it is to see you doing all right, I think you probably don't need this much company." She spoke in a low tone, hinting at Roy that they should consider coming back later. Al waved his hand back and forth.  
"But you just got here, I don't want you to feel like you have to leave already."  
"To be honest, we just wanted to stop by. Got a lot of paper work today."  
"Yes, well if someone didn't stop rushing off every time he got a phone call, we could get it all done," Riza explained to Al.  
"Okay, okay, I get it. Anyway, we need to go. Hopefully we can swing in later." He turned and looked at Hawkeye, as though asking for permission.  
"Hopefully."

She lead the way out. The room became quiet once again. Edward stood up from his chair and walked over to Winry.  
"Hey, could you let me have a moment alone with Al?" He looked down at her in such a way, she wanted to be concerned but knew he was okay.  
"Al, you need anything from the cafeteria?" She offered, rising from her chair.  
"Oh no thank you. I'm not hungry." Edward walked behind her to the door and thanked her before closing it. Taking his seat again, he let out a sigh.  
"Envy is gone. He's not going to be a problem anymore." He stated, placing his elbows on his legs and leaning forward on his hands.  
"What about Greed?"  
"He's gone. He's not going to bother us from now on. I think he knows better anyway." Al sat back on his pillow, nodding in agreement.

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, a smirk found it's way onto Ed's face. He had an idea that had been bouncing around in his mind for awhile now. "So what do you think about writing an alchemy book with me?"  
"Seriously? What brought this on?"  
"Well think about it this way, when we started reading about it, all the taboo's were just that. No one would come out and say why human transmutation was wrong. And there was such limited information about the Philosopher's Stone too. I just figure that if people knew the reasons behind the laws, it would keep them from making these mistakes again."

Al brought his hand up to his chin, thinking about how helpful it would have been if such a book existed before.  
"Plus with no homunculi convincing people they need the stone, it would make sense. I think we should do it." Edward smiled back, happy to know Al thought it was a good idea.  
"Well I'm gonna be doing research back in Resembol anyway."  
"And eventually marrying Winry." Al grinned back causing his brother to flush.  
"Why do people keep making jokes about us. It's crazy!" Alphonse crossed his arms, giving him a look.  
"Is it really? Yah know I won that fight when we were kids, but after thinking about it, I'm a little young for her. So it's not that crazy."

Ed thought about the night before and how it felt waking up to Winry sleeping next to him. His own subconscious even knew his brother was right. Shaking his head, he knew there was no arguing the point.

~~~~ -Two days later-

The train whistle blew loudly as the train was preparing to leave the platform. The passengers began boarding as a military car came to a screeching hault near by. Roy hopped out of the back seat in a huff, yanking the driver's side door open.  
"Why in the hell did I ever agree to letting you drive. You're a lunatic!" He glared at the blond who was trying to get his seat belt off.  
"I am not, we're gonna be late! Someone had to get us here on time. And no one said you had to come see us off." His voice could be heard over the second whistle.  
"Then who would drive the car back, Fullmetal? I should be lucky it's on one piece."

Winry got out of the passenger side along with Alphonse and their suitcase. Considering hers was still on the first train from the other night, it was probably sitting on the platform in Resembol.  
"Edward, that was the second whistle. We've gotta go." Giving Mustang one final glare, he took off running.  
Winry tried to keep up but to no avail as she didn't want to leave Al behind.  
"Brother slow down, I can't go that fast." Ed stopped, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.  
"We're gonna miss the train." Winry and Al made it to where he was standing.  
"Fine, you're in such a hurry, carry me."

Al jumped on Edward's back, causing him to let out a grunt. Winry was shocked he managed to jump like that.  
"Alphonse, you'll pop you're stitches." She sounded like she was mothering him.  
"Yeah, get off," Ed huffed out even though he was moving towards the train still.  
"I always use to carry you around before." One of the train attendants saw them across the plateform and waited for them.  
"That was different and you know it." He continued to move forward.  
"How was it different and you had automail then. You were really heavy."  
"And you were a tin can back then so how would you know how heavy I was?"  
"It's the principle of the matter." "Principle! Are you serious?"

They made it to the attendant and Ed pulled their tickets out of his shirt pocket with his teeth. Winry pulled the suitcase behind her, finally getting on the train behind them. Al slipped down off his brother's back, cringing while holding his side.  
"See what did I tell you." Winry shoved the suitcase at Ed, knocking him over in the process of making her way over to Al. "I'm okay, just a little sore." "Why don't you go sit down."

He nodded and headed to the back of the train, taking a seat, facing the front. Ed straightened up, quickly grabbing Winry's hand to pull her over to him. He still managed to keep a playful look in his eyes.  
"And what about me? I'm hurting too, yah know." He brought his one hand behind him, rubbing his lower back. She concealed her laughter behind her hand as he whined. "Oh come on, can't you kiss it and make it better for me again?" Her faced flushed when he said that.  
"That was just a one time thing." He leaned over her, placing his arm up against the doorway.  
"Does it have to be?"

His tone was soft and she noticed he was also a little flush, although it might have been because they had to run to the train. Before she could answer him, he leaned down and lightly kissed her lips. Alphonse leaned out of his seat, wondering what was taking them so long. He couldn't help but smile, seeing Winry staring up at Ed with complete shock on her face. Pulling away he looked down at her, with an idiotic smirk on his face. "Maybe you're better at it then I am." She dropped her head to where he couldn't see her face, smiling contently to herself. Edward wasn't sure what to do next and started to wonder if she would hit him for his forwardness. Finally she took his hand and looked up, still smiling.  
"It's okay, we'll just have to practice more later."

His face went completely red as she pulled him towards the back of the train. Ed was beyond words or even straight thinking. Slumping into the seat across from Al, he noticed his brother grinning.  
"What's so amusing, Alphonse?" "Oh nothing, I'm just happy we're going home." Winry took her seat next to Edward.  
"Yeah, I miss Granny. Central is too dangerous," she agreed turning to Ed. "Hah, yeah that's all fine and good until we're all bored."  
"What do you mean bored, I live there yah know. I'm never bored." Alphonse placed his hands up in the air.  
"I'm didn't say it, you can get yourself out of this one, Brother." Ed dropped his head, knowing his mouth had once again gotten him in trouble. It was going to be a long ride home.  
~The End~

Author's note- I have considered writing a third story to this but would need motivation, hint hint, cough reviews cough. 


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